


Thanks, we don't need a vacuum cleaner! But...

by hello33willoTheWisp845



Category: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Family Bonding, Older Woman/Younger Woman, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:54:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29555229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hello33willoTheWisp845/pseuds/hello33willoTheWisp845
Summary: Andy is a vacuum cleaner saleswoman. After college she had hoped to get a job as a journalist for a magazine as soon as possible. Unfortunately, no magazine to which she had applied in writing had reported back. And since she needed money to pay her running costs, she had been forced to take the first job she got. She wasn't happy with this job, but her life suddenly changes when she rings the doorbell at a certain front door in the Upper East Side.
Relationships: Miranda Priestly/Andrea Sachs
Comments: 48
Kudos: 271





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language, but I would like to share my stories with you. So please excuse any errors. Many thanks.

Andy looked up at the town house she was standing in front of. It looked just as pretty as all the other houses in this area. But somehow it was a tiny bit more impressive than the other houses. How so? Andy didn't really know that himself.

She sighed deeply, then picked up the bulky vacuum cleaner and carried it to the front door. There she pressed the bell lightly and briefly and waited.

A few seconds passed without anything happening. Andy almost ready to turn around and go on to the next house. But then the front door was swung open and two identical-looking red-haired girls looked at her curiously.

"Hello." Andy said uncertainly and wondered how strange the situation was, since the twins seemed to be studying them from top to bottom with critical eyes.

"What do you want?" Asked the two girls curiously at the same time and all of Andy 's hairs stood up.

"I ..., I ... um ... are you allowed to open the door to strangers at all?" Asked Andy, who had recovered at that moment and found it somehow strange to have children in such a affluent area open the front door.

"We may." Said the two again at the same time and grinned devilishly at Andy.

"So why did you ring the bell?" Asked both of them and looked at Andy with a skeptical look.

Andy pulled the vacuum cleaner in front of him and pointed at it.

"I sell vacuum cleaners." she said, but before she could continue, she was interrupted by a very serious but low voice.

"Girls!?!" Said a woman who appeared at the front door and the girls looked around at her. Their faces immediately looked down guiltily.

"Girls, what are you doing here?" Asked the woman and looked appraisingly at Andy with cool blue eyes.

"Mom, we ..." began the girls, but the woman pushed them inside.

"Go in, we'll talk about it in a moment." she said and then looked back at Andy.

"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked Andy directly and Andy winced at the sharp but quiet tone.

"I ..., I ... sell vacuum cleaners." she brought out quietly and the woman raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"We don't need a vacuum cleaner." Said the woman and Andy swallowed, twice, then nodded her head.

"Thanks ma'am for your time." she said, pulling the damn vacuum cleaner over to her, then turned around.

“Wait!” The woman called after her.

"Come in." It wasn't a request, it was more an order.

Andy turned around in a flash and looked at the woman. She was dressed quite elegantly, had silver short hair and her hairstyle looked very nice. Beautiful even. And her face was too, high cheekbones, a long nose and a mouth that was ruffle up when Andy stared at her.

Andy blushed and quickly removed from the sight of the woman and shamefully picked up the vacuum cleaner and dragged it awkwardly to the front door.

"Is it going a little slower?" Asked the woman impatiently and Andy looked at her in shock.

"Sorry" Andy said quietly as she walked past the woman into the townhouse.

"Leave this thing here and follow me." said the woman decisively.

Andy looked back and forth between the vacuum cleaner and the woman.

“Oh my god, no one here is going to take your vacuum cleaner away. So come on at last!” Said the woman gruffly and Andy looked at her with wide eyes, but then followed her down the hall into a stylishly furnished room. Wow...

The twins were already sitting on a sofa and their mother sat in an armchair and looked closely at Andy. Andy felt rather uncomfortable being looked at in such a judgmental way, so she began to fidget uncertainly.

"Ma'am, should I introduce you to the vacuum cleaner?"

“Oh stop calling me ma'am. I am Miranda. Girls, how did you come up with the idea to open the front door by yourself?" Miranda asked her daughters with a stern tone.

The girls looked at each other and then at their mother.

"We looked at the security camera and she looked harmless, so we thought it wouldn't be a bad thing to open the front door." One of the girls replied and Miranda sighed deeply at this answer.

"Bobbseys how many times have I told you that even harmless-looking people ..." she pointed to Andy with her hand. "... can be crazy and mean people?" Asked Miranda and the girls looked at her in dismay.

"But ..." the other girl started, but Miranda held up her hand to stop her.

"No buts!!! I am deeply disappointed in both of you that you opened the front door. I never want to experience something like this again. So can I trust that you will never do that again?” Asked Miranda and the two girls nodded their heads at the same time.

"Good." Miranda said and then looked back at the wriggling Andy.

“Oh, stop fidgeting at last. What's your name?” Miranda asked gruffly and Andy looked at her with big brown eyes.

"Andy Sachs." she uttered, intimidated.

"Ah, what does Andy stand for?" Miranda asked curiously.

"For Andrea."

"Good. So Bobbseys look at Andrea and now think about what will happen to you if you don't do your homework and don't do your best in school. Because that ... ”she pointed her hand at Andy again. "... will then be your future." Miranda explained with a sigh.

Andy looked at her in shock.

“Hey, I always did my homework and got good school grades. I even went to college.” Andy said challengingly and in defense of her honor.

Miranda looked at her curiously.

"Ah, so why are you selling vacuum cleaners now?" She asked unmoved and raised her eyebrows.

"Um ..., well ..., I ..., I wanted to be a journalist, but I haven't found a suitable job." Andy explained and then shrugged her shoulders helplessly and looked down at the floor.

"Are you at least good at selling vacuum cleaners?" Asked Miranda, but Andy shook her head in resignation.

To be honest, she hadn't sold a vacuum cleaner since she took that stupid job two weeks ago. 

"Hm ... I could imagine why that is." Miranda said thoughtfully and Andy lifted her head and looked at her.

"What?" She asked interested and Miranda looked her up and down again before she looked into Andy again.

"You are not interested in fashion." Miranda said and Andy was about to defend himself. But Miranda waved it off.

"No, no ... that was not a question." Miranda said and took her glasses off her nose and played with her absently while she continued to look at Andy.

"Give us a show." Miranda demanded and Andy looked at her confused.

"What?"

"You should introduce us to this vacuum cleaner!" Demanded Miranda and Andy continued to look at her confused.

“You want to buy a vacuum cleaner?” She asked excitedly.

"No no. But I would like to check my theory about your incompetence to sell a vacuum cleaner.” Miranda explained and Andy looked at her horrified.

"Um ... thanks for your time, but I should go now." Andy said and turned around with sagging shoulders and wanted to leave the room in a hurry. She was very suspicious of this whole situation.

"Stop!" Asked Miranda and Andy looked at her again uncertainly.

Miranda sighed deeply and rolled her eyes.

"How are you going to sell a vacuum cleaner when you are such a small, shy mouse and look like this?" Asked Miranda, pointing to Andy's clothes.

Andy looked down at himself. This morning she had put on dark corduroy trousers, a blouse, a sweater and over them a warm jacket. Comfortable sneakers were on her feet. Andy couldn't see what was wrong with her clothes with the best of intentions.

Miranda rolled her eyes again and groaned loudly.

“Andrea, nobody in our area needs a vacuum cleaner. So you will never find a household here that will buy one from you. But and it is important that you understand that, especially the way you look and act, nobody will open the front door for you, except for my naughty daughters. So if you ever want to be successful, you should rethink your wardrobe and refine your sales strategy.” Miranda explained and Andy, who had been nibbling on her lower lip the whole time, looked at Miranda with frightened brown doe eyes.

Miranda thought that was kind of cute. Then she shook her head to get rid of that stupid thought.

"Thanks for your time." Andy said softly and turned and walked down the hall to the front door.

Miranda got up quickly and followed her.

"Andrea?" She asked and Andy turned back to her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I was not finished yet. Come back!" Asked Miranda and Andy blinked at her confused, but went back into the room. She wasn't sure why she didn't leave immediately. But she did what Miranda wanted.

"Girls please fetch Patricia." Miranda demanded and Andy looked after the girls fearfully and then at Miranda.

Both girls came into the room a moment later with a huge dog and Andy backed away, startled.

The girls grinned devilishly at her while the great St. Bernard slowly stomped towards them and Andy's stiffened. The dog circled her comfortably and sniffed her before he lay down on the ground at her feet and began to yawn.

"Good Good. Patricia also finds you harmless. You have the job.” Miranda explained.

"What?" Andy asked confused and excited at the same time.

Miranda rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance.

"Mom?" Asked the twins at the same time.

“Cara, the nanny got married and is leaving next week. We need a new nanny. My girls and dog find you harmless enough that you are unlikely to be nuts. So you have the job.” Miranda said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Andy looked at her with wide eyes and opened her mouth, closed it again and opened it again.

"What?" Asked Andy again very confused and blinked at Miranda.

"What exactly did you not understand?" Asked Miranda impatiently.

"Everything." Andy managed to say.

"I mean, I wanted to sell you a vacuum cleaner, not take a nanny job." she said bravely.

“Don't be ridiculous. You can't be serious that you'd rather continue to sell vacuum cleaners, and you are obviously not suitable for it.” Miranda replied irritably.

"No of course not. But I ... “Before Andy could continue talking, Miranda interrupted her.

"Well, then that would be explained. Come by here tomorrow at 7 a.m., Cara will explain to you what your exact tasks will be. That's all." Miranda said and Andy looked at her like a goldfish on dry land.

"What?" Asked Miranda when Andy was still standing in front of her and stared at her like she was an absurdity.

"I haven't agreed to take the job yet." Andy said boldly.

Miranda giggled for a moment before realizing what she was doing. Then she looked coolly at Andy with a boring expression.

"Hmm ... it would be pretty stupid in your situation to turn down my job offer. So are we now agreed that you will come here tomorrow?” Asked Miranda and put her glasses back on her nose.

Andy nodded her head.

"Good, see you tomorrow." She said and left the room and climbed the stairs.

The twins looked at Andy and Andy looked at them.

"This is your cue to leave." Said the two at the same time and Andy broke out of their shock and looked at the two girls.

"Yes ... of course." She managed to say, turned around and left the townhouse with the bulky vacuum cleaner.

Happy to be out on the street again, she hurried to the company car that was waiting for her a few houses away on the sidewalk. Only when she had stowed the vacuum cleaner away and was safely seated in the car did she allow herself to pause for a moment and take a deep breath.

"What the fuck was that?" She wondered aloud, shaking her head.


	2. Chapter 2

Andy dropped onto her shabby sofa with a deep sigh and stared at the yellowed ceiling after coming home for the evening. Nate looked at her with concern. 

"How was your day?" he asked cautiously. 

"Lousy, really lousy. I didn't sell anything. But as if that wasn't enough, I got stuck with a family which was pretty crazy. The mother offered me a job as a nanny. And you know..." Andy straightened up before continuing "...I'm sure I'll never survive that job." she said as Nate handed her a glass of red wine. 

"A nanny job?" he asked, raising his eyebrow questioningly. 

"Yeah, it was so surreal. I rang the doorbell at this townhouse and two girls, they're twins opened the door for me. Their mother appeared shortly after and was quite upset with them for opening the door without permission. I was invited into the house and then placed in front of the girls as human scum. Miranda said look at her, this is how you will end up if you don't do your homework and don't always do your best in school. I felt so humiliated. You have no idea, it was horrible. Then Miranda looked me up and down and told me right to my face that it's no wonder I'm not good at selling vacuum cleaners. I would have loved to sink into the ground. I wanted to leave. I really did. But she wouldn't let me and called me back. So assertive, like she always gets what she wants. And then just like that, after her giant St. Bernard sniffed me and marked me as harmless, she said I had the job. I had no idea what she was talking about. And really, she had no muse to explain it to me. Luckily, the girls had asked her and only then did she tell me that she was giving me the nanny job. I just looked at her like a fool because I had no idea how to react to that. She just said like that *you have the job, I'll see you tomorrow then. That's all.* She didn't even wait to hear what I had to say about whether I even wanted the job." told Andy and Nate looked at her in wonder. 

"So, did you take the job?" asked Nate curiously and Andy looked at him with a sigh. 

"Miranda said I'd be pretty stupid not to take the job and that was that. I'm supposed to be there tomorrow at 7 a.m." Andy replied resignedly and Nate grinned broadly at her.

***************************************

Meanwhile, Miranda had requested a security check up on Andrea Sachs. She had never been naive enough in her life to believe in coincidences. So she strongly doubted that Andrea was who she seemed to be pretending to be.

Andrea had mentioned that she wanted to become a journalist. So what was wrong with assuming that this poorly dressed girl was sneaking into her family to sell firsthand private and personal secrets about Miranda, her marriage, her children, and whatnot to the next gossip rag in order to make a name for herself? 

No, Miranda wasn't stupid enough to think it was a coincidence that today, of all days, when she was at home, she was standing outside her door with these stupid vacuum cleaners.

But as she read through the information that had been emailed to her about Andrea, she frowned more and more. The girl had run the college newspaper in college as editor-in-chief, and her articles were well thought out and well researched. She certainly had potential. So why was she selling vacuum cleaners? Why hadn't she found a more suitable job?

Was she a gold digger and would go after her husband? Miranda suddenly laughed out loud. Oh yes, as if Stephen would ever be interested in that horribly dressed girl. That was hilarious. No, no, that would never work. Miranda shook her head to shake off that ridiculous thought. 

Then she printed out the employment contract, as well as the confidentiality agreement that Andrea was supposed to sign first thing the next morning before she would do anything at all in her household. 

Next, she pulled the book towards her and began to look through it intently, writing on post-its her comments on what should be changed.

***************************************

The next morning, Andy stood nervously outside the townhouse, wondering for the hundredth time that morning why she had taken this nanny job. Before she could think more carefully about whether it made more sense to turn back around and just walk away, however, the front door was yanked open and the twins stared at her questioningly.

"How long are you going to stand out there looking stupid?" they asked simultaneously, and Andy winced. 

Yeah, so much for exchanging pleasantries early in the morning. Thank you. 

Andy sighed deeply and then entered the townhouse. A woman immediately came striding up to them and extended her hand to Andy. 

"Good morning, I'm Cara, the still nanny." Cara winked encouragingly at Andy.

"You must be Andy. The twins have already told me about you. Come on in and give me your jacket. Miranda is already waiting for you upstairs in her study." Cara explained, sending the twins to the kitchen for breakfast while she hung Andy's jacket up in the closet. 

"Shall we?" she asked, pointing to the stairs and Andy nodded her head, not sure if she really wanted to.

Slowly the two women climbed the stairs to the first Floor and Cara led them down the hall to a door. Cara knocked and a soft "come in" sounded from inside the room. 

"Go in." prompted Cara to Andy and Andy looked at her hesitantly for a moment, but then obeyed her request. 

"You're late." declared Miranda immediately, but didn't look up from the forms she was reading a moment ago. Confused, Andy looked at her wristwatch and frowned, since it was actually before 7a.m. 

"Andrea, I'd appreciate it if you'd come over here instead of standing there stupidly by the door." said Miranda gruffly as she lifted her head and saw Andy still standing by the door. 

"Excuse me." mumbled Andy intimidated, stepping closer. 

"Have a seat. This is a confidentiality agreement, you need to sign it right away." Miranda explained and Andy took it in her hand, looking at it uncertainly. 

"I will not tolerate my private life being sold to any gossip magazines. That means if you do anything of the sort, I hereby promise you right now that I will ruin your life and then blacklist you. Do you understand?" asked Miranda seriously. 

Andy didn't understand, so she shook her head. Miranda sighed softly and pursed her mouth. 

"That means you'll never have a chance to get this anywhere again, no matter what city or job you apply for. So sign it and we can move on." Miranda demanded, and Andy looked at her, startled. 

"If you refuse to sign this, then you can leave right now." said Miranda quietly but firmly.

Andy looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, but then signed the confidentiality agreement. 

"Good." said Miranda, then placed another form in front of Andy.

"This is your employment contract, this is valid for the next two weeks during which you will complete a probationary period here. You don't have to sign it right away. I reserve the right to terminate you without notice at any time if I do not agree with the way you are working. Of course, you can also terminate at any time as you see fit. However, in this case, I reserve the right to give you 14 days notice to find a new nanny. Is that all clear to you?" asked Miranda, a touch as if she were talking to a child instead of a young woman. 

"Yes, that's understandable." said Andy clearly. 

"Good." said Miranda, pulling out another sheet of paper and placing it in front of Andy. 

"With this paper here, you agree to let me decide about your work clothes." explained Miranda and Andy looked at her with wide eyes. 

"What?" she asked confused and then looked down at herself. She was wearing a blue sweater today, a blouse underneath, a skirt, black tights and comfortable shoes. She couldn't see what was wrong with it. 

"Well her clothes give me eye cancer." declared Miranda in disgust and Andy chuckled out loud. Miranda looked at her with a snort. 

"I can't see what's so funny about it." retorted Miranda, looking challengingly at Andy. 

"Um..., well..., I didn't know that word even existed. What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?" asked Andy uncertainly, and Miranda looked at her appraisingly from top to bottom and back, putting on a disgusted expression. 

"Everything. Listen, as my nanny you take responsibility for my daughters and I can't see how my daughters can respect you and look up to you as a role model when you walking around in those rags. Furthermore, as my nanny, you will accompany my daughters to school or to extracurricular events. Under no circumstances can I let you walk around like that. I would make a fool of myself in New York. Don't you know who I am?" asked Miranda hissing and Andy shook her head. 

Miranda rolled her eyes and gave one short snort. 

"I'm Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of Runway, the most well-known and famous fashion magazine in the entire world. And as such, I can't have my nanny running around like this. My reputation as a dragon lady, an ice queen, a devil in Prada. I don't want to be called a woman who employs the worst-dressed nanny in New York." Miranda explained in a quiet but serious tone. 

Andy swallowed and tried to hold back her tears that seemed to slowly gather in her eyes. She felt humiliated and reduced to something that wasn't really very important to her, but seemed incredibly important to Miranda to insult her in such a way that no one had ever done to her before. Andy clearly felt wrong about this place. So she quickly got up from the chair, wanting to get away from Miranda as quickly as possible. 

"Andrea!" said Miranda in a cutting tone and Andy stopped rooted to the spot. 

"Yes?" she asked, turning back to Miranda. 

"Lord god again, are you always so easily rattled and so quick to run away?" asked Miranda in frustration and Andy looked at her with shining eyes before running her hand over her eyes and wiping away the still unshed tears. 

"You'll never be successful like this." said Miranda quietly, getting up from her ergonomically designed desk chair and circling her fancy, expensive desk that must have cost quite a bit and that Andy could never have afforded in her lifetime. 

She stepped close to Andy and looked at her challengingly with her blue eyes. 

"If you run away now, when it's just a matter of appropriate work attire, what's the next thing you're going to run away from? Isn't it easier for you to sign this and let me give you appropriate clothes for your work than to go back into vacuum cleaner sales business?" asked Miranda matter-of-factly. 

Andy bit her lower lip and nibbled on it while she thought. Then she nodded her head in resignation. 

"Good, that's settled then. So sign here." said Miranda, pointing to the line where Andy should sign. Then she handed Andy the pen and Andy signed with a shaky hand. 

"If you want you can submit all three documents to a lawyer for review." said Miranda and Andy nodded her head.

"My father is a lawyer, he always wanted me to follow in his footsteps and take over his small law firm, but I decided against law school and to go into journalism. He wasn't too pleased about it." told Andy, and Miranda looked at her in surprise for a moment.

"Interesting. Now let's get on with it. Undress!" she demanded, pointing at Andy's clothes. 

Andy looked at her speechless and irritated. 

"What?"

"My God Andrea, what's not to understand or are you a prude?" asked Miranda, looking at Andy with a smirk. 

"What, no, no of course not. But..." Miranda stopped her and held up her hand. 

"No, no buts. Strip. Now. I don't have all day." said Miranda impatiently and Andy's head turned red. 

"Or do you need help with that?" asked Miranda sarcastically. 

"No."

Andy first took off her blue sweater and laid it over the back of the chair, then took off her skirt. 

"Everything?" she asked quietly, and Miranda nodded her head at her as she took her glasses off her nose and slid the one temple between her lips. 

"Of course." was all she said, and Andy swallowed. 

Next she slowly unbuttoned her blouse button by button. 

"Can you go any slower?" asked Miranda annoyed, rolling her eyes. 

"Sorry." muttered Andy softly, hurrying to unbutton the remaining buttons. Then she took off her blouse. And pulled down her shoes and her black pantyhose last. 

Dressed only in black panties and a green bra, she stood in front of Miranda, who looked at her closely from top to bottom and then back again with an unreadable look. 

"I deal with half-naked models every day, so don't worry about this being anything salacious or objectionable. It isn't. And it doesn't count as harassment in the workplace either." said Miranda seriously.

"Hmm... I see I have to take care of your underwear too." said Miranda after a long moment of just silently looking at Andy. 

"Why?" asked Andy, fidgeting unsteadily from one leg to the other.

"Because your underwear, is just as awful as the rest of your clothes." replied Miranda with a sigh.

Miranda even felt a little sorry for her. As insecure, fidgeting and embarrassed as she was standing in front of her, having no idea how much she pleased Miranda with her figure, which truly could not be considered model measurements, but was very beautiful to look at. Andy had a curvy body and looked incredibly sensual. Miranda shook her head, dispelling those inappropriate thoughts. 

Instead, she stepped up to Andy and placed her hand on Andy's hip, stroking it lightly and gently, lost in thought, and estimated the cup size of Andy's breasts so that she could provide suitable underwear for Andy tomorrow. 

While Miranda's hand was on Andy's hip, a shiver ran down Andy's spine and her fine hairs stood up. She immediately stopped fidgeting and tried to stand still. 

Miranda smiled gently at her before taking her hand down from Andy's hip and walking over to the sofa that was nearby and picking up the new work clothes and then handing them to Andy. 

"Look at this, I want to see if it works." she said, stepping back to her desk and leaning against the front. 

Andy took the cream blouse first and hastily pulled it on. With shaky fingers, she buttoned the buttons from the bottom to the last button at the top. Next she put on the black pants. 

Miranda walked back to her and stopped close in front of her, then unbuttoned the first two buttons and grinned at Andy. 

"We don't want you to choke, do we?" she asked, amused, and Andy looked at her with her big brown doe eyes. Then she shook her head. 

"No." she whispered softly. 

"Good. How do you feel in those clothes?" asked Miranda, trying to make Andy feel at least a little bit like she got to help decide what she wore to work. 

"Okay." she said quietly, and Miranda nodded in agreement. 

"Yeah, I think for today that works pretty well. I'll have some things put together for you. Unless you prefer to be dressed in a real nanny uniform?" asked Miranda with a grin. 

"No, no. That's okay. Thanks." brought out Andy. 

"Good. That's all." said Miranda, sitting back down behind her desk. Andy looked at her confused, not really knowing what was expected of her now. 

After Andy didn't move, Miranda looked at her in irritation. 

"Is there anything else?" she asked, but Andy shook her head. 

"Then why are you still standing around here? Go and let Cara explain everything else." Miranda said, and Andy finally understood that she had been dismissed. Hastily, she gathered her things. 

"No, no. Leave them here, I'll dispose of them right away." replied Miranda, but Andy looked at her in horror. 

Miranda rolled her eyes and sighed deeply. 

"Fine take them with you, but don't ever wear this around me again." she said and Andy sighed in relief, gathered her things and then hurriedly left the study.


	3. Chapter 3

Andy stepped out of the study in a daze and stopped, uncertain. She had no idea where Cara was. Was she allowed to go looking for her in the townhouse? Damn. Petrified and undecided, she stopped and looked around, perplexed. 

Shortly after, the study door opened and Miranda stepped out and ran right into her. 

"My God Andrea, what are you still doing here?" she asked in amazement and Andy looked at her again with those big brown eyes unsure. Miranda really hoped that eventually the girl would stop looking at her like that, it was really annoying. 

"I don't know where Cara is and I didn't know if I could go look for her." stammered Andy and Miranda rolled her eyes. Then she held a note in front of Andy's nose.

"This is your hair appointment, get a decent haircut." said Miranda and walked down the hall. When she noticed Andy wasn't following her, she looked back at her. 

"Cara's in the kitchen with the girls. Come with me." she demanded and Andy obediently followed her, still frowning, since this woman seemed to be so easily in charge of their lives without a second thought. First the clothes, then a hair appointment. What else would come?

******************************

Arriving in the kitchen, Andy saw a man sitting next to the girls. Unsure of what was expected of her, she took a step back. Miranda looked at her in wonder, but said nothing more about it.

"Stephen, this is Andrea our new nanny. Andrea this is my husband Stephen." Miranda introduced the two. 

Stephen looked up briefly from his newspaper he had been reading, gave Andy a quick appraising look before turning back to the paper, bored. 

Miranda sullenly pursed her mouth at her husband's rude manner, but then turned to Cara. 

"Cara please explain everything to Andrea after the girls have left for school. And find somewhere to put those unspeakable clothes." she said, pointing to the pile of clothes in Andy's arms. 

"Yes, Miranda." said Cara dutifully before turning to the girls and telling them they needed to get ready for school.

******************************

After the girls were finally in the car and taken to school by Roy, Cara handed Andy a stack of loose papers, notebooks and post-its.

"What's this?"

"Oh these are the things you need to keep track of. They're the various homework assignments, school projects, notes, addresses and phone numbers, of teachers, friends, acquaintances, sports teams, and a few more. I've tried to balance that somehow, but as you can see I've never really succeeded. There are different appointment calendar, those of Miranda, the girls, Stephen and a family planner. There's a bunch of appointments in there too."

"Wow, that's really a lot." sighed Andy, but took it all and stowed it away in her big, bulky shoulder bag, which Miranda hadn't taken away from her yet. 

"Yeah." laughed Cara, patting Andy's shoulders amicably. "You'll be fine. Most appointment are pretty regular with the girls. It's rare that anything changes in their schedule. The most important thing is to keep track of their homework, school projects and tests. The twins are a little sloppy about that. While they are very smart and quite advanced in thinking for their age, they are also lazy and spoiled. So don't take too much from them. They need to slowly learn that they have to take care of all this stuff themselves. They will test you in every way they can think of. Don't let them steer you off course, though."

"Okay, fine. But honestly, I've never had much to do with kids. What do I do when they get too rowdy?"

"Oh, you'll think of something, and if you can't help it, you can call me. Do you want me to tell you a little about the twins or do you like to find out for yourself what they're like?"

"No, no. Tell me anything that might help me, please." 

"Well, they both hate it when you can't tell them apart. Which they also regularly get a kick out of swapping their roles. They look the same down to the smallest thing, but you can tell them apart by their personalities. Caroline, the older of the two, is always the one who will try everything first, express problems or wishes first, take the blame most on herself. But the mastermind behind any prank, wish or idea is always Cassidy. While Caroline is loud and quick-tempered, Cassidy is level-headed and quiet. Caroline will need your help the most, even if she denies it or rejects you, literally letting you die of thirst on her long arm. She is always the one who needs and appreciates your love, praise and appreciation the most. If you can gain Caroline's trust, then everything else is insanely easy," Cara explained, and Andy wrote it all down in her little notebook, which she had pulled out of her shoulder bag before Cara had begun to tell. 

"What else is there to know?" asked Andy, but Cara shook her head. 

"Anything else you'll have to figure out on your own." she said, winking at Andy. 

"I've got to go. I'll see you later and don't forget your hair appointment." Cara called out to Andy before running down the stairs, grabbing her jacket and bag out of the hall closet and then leaving the townhouse. 

Andy sighed deeply and then went to her room, which she would always occupy when staying at the townhouse. 

There she sat down at the small desk and then pulled out of her large shoulder bag the stack that Cara had handed her. First she looked at each loose of paper, post-its, note and sorted them by subject. 

Andy loved making lists and being well prepared for anything. She wasn't the most fashionably dressed person and not really interested in that nonsense, but she was a perfectionist. She always gave her best and was only satisfied when the result was really satisfying. Yes, okay the job as a vacuum cleaner saleswoman she had really messed up and really did not cover herself with glory. But the job as a nanny she would do as well as she could. No, she would do it even better than good. She knew she could do it and consequently failure was not an option. 

While Andy was making the lists she needed for her work, she completely forgot about time. She was all the more surprised when she looked at her wristwatch and realized how late it already was. 

"Shit!!!" Andy jumped up from her chair and quickly hurried down the stairs and out of the townhouse. 

But outside on the sidewalk, she only realized she had no idea where the hairdresser she had an appointment with was located. Pissed off because she had left her purse and cell phone upstairs in the room, she went back and retrieved both. Her cell phone then directed her, using Google Maps, to the correct hairdresser, which was in the neighborhood, just a few blocks away. 

Sighing, Andy entered the hairdresser. 

"Yes?" asked a woman in the reception area. 

"Um...I had an appointment, unfortunately I completely forgot the time today. Could I still make the appointment?" asked Andy, smiling uncertainly but kindly at the woman. 

Luckily for Andy, she was able to squeeze in and also only had to wait half an hour for her turn.

"Hello, I'm Jean Luc, how can I help you?" asked a young man who was dressed rather smartly and quite openly obviously very gay. 

Andy looked at him for a moment with her big brown eyes. 

"Um..., my new boss made the appointment and wants me to get a decent haircut." said Andy, looking at Jean Luc a little perplexed. 

"Umm..., who's your boss?" he asked as he ran his hands through Andy's long, but very dull dark brown hair, scrutinizing it closely. 

"Miranda Priestly." Andy replied and Jean Luc looked at her with a raised eyebrow and whistled through his lips pressed together. 

"Oh, okay. Did she say what she meant by a decent haircut?" 

"No, she didn't."

"Hmm..., so what should we do?" asked Jean Luc more to himself, looking at Andy's hair from every angle he could think of. He frowned skeptically, smoothed it out again when a better idea came to him, only to look sullen again right after. After a long moment of thinking really hard, he threw his hands up in the air in exasperation and looked dramatically at Andy.

"How much do you like your hair length?" he asked a little uncertainly, knowing from experience that women were always very particular about their hair length. 

"I don't know, I never thought about it."

"So would you be okay with us cutting all of this off and making it a very nice pixie cut?" 

Andy thought about it for a long moment. What Miranda would think of that. Oh fuck it, it was her head and her hair. She had to live with the results, not Miranda. It would be crazy to adjust her hairstyle to Miranda's wishes as well. It would be, wouldn't it? 

"So?"

"Yeah, let's do it." said Andy boldly, and Jean Luc grinned broadly and happily at her. 

Half an hour later, Andy looked at herself in the mirror in amazement. She really, really liked what she saw. She looked like the young Audrey Hepburn in the movie "Sabrina". Beautiful...interesting what hairstyles could do to you. 

Her hair was now short on the sides and back of her head and the elongated side parting fell from left to right over her right eye. 

Jean Luc had told her that she could do anything she wanted with this hairstyle. She could even recreate a iroquois with hair gel if she felt like it, or use cute hair clips to hold her angled bangs in place, or simply clamp the bangs behind her right ear. She could take the hairstyle from well-behaved to sassy. There were so many options and Andy took it upon herself to try all of them over time. 

Happy and satisfied, she left Jean Luc and headed back to the townhouse to continue working on the lists. It wasn't until she was on her way back that she remembered Nate. Shit, she had totally forgotten about him. What he would say about her new haircut? Nate had always loved her long hair.

Sighing, she climbed the stairs in the townhouse and went to her room. Once there, she continued to work on her lists for a while. Once everything was done in that regard, however, she picked up her phone and Googled Miranda Priestly, reading through everything she could find about her. Starting with her official resume, which was posted on Wikipedia, to her achievements and the gossip from the relevant gossip newspapers. 

"Oh bloody God!" a woman suddenly shouted in surprise when she opened the door of the room and found Andy in the room. 

Andy lifted her head from her cell phone, turned to her and looked at her in amazement.

"I..., I hadn't known anyone was here." the red-haired young woman said a touch too hysterically. Andy looked at her questioningly.

"Hi, I'm Andy and you are?"

"Emily Charlton, Miranda's first assistant." explained Emily snootily. In her arms she had several bags of clothes. 

"What's this?" asked Andy, quickly taking the heavy load from Emily and placing it on the bed.

"These are your work clothes. Not that I think you'll be employed here for more than a few days. But Miranda specifically said to provide you with work clothes for at least 2 weeks." replied Emily arrogantly. 

Andy stared at her with wide eyes. 

"This is all for me?"

"God no, don't be ridiculous. There's more out in the car." retorted Emily, snorting disdainfully before turning and leaving Andy's room and hurrying down the hall. 

Andy stumbled after her. 

There were actually several more shopping bags stowed in the car, which Andy looked at with wide eyes. 

"Oh my goodness." whispered Andy in awe. "What's all in there?"

"Shoes, underwear, accessories, handbag, just about everything you'll need." replied Emily, looking appraisingly at Andy. 

"Um...okay." said Andy, taking the bags in her hands. "Thanks, for dropping them off." 

"Yeah, whatever." said Emily and then got in the car and just drove off without saying goodbye to Andy. Andy watched the car go by for a while before she going back to the townhouse. 

Upstairs in her room, she looked through the individual shopping bags. Good God, Miranda couldn't really believe she wore something like that to work. Or??? Andy looked down at various outfits spread out on her bed, all so fancy and so totally useless for nanny work. With kids you had to be dressed flexibly and agilely, but these outfits all looked like they could only be taken to the theater, art openings, galas and other fancy occasions and events. But surely not to the park to the playground!

And the underwear, it looked beautiful and felt soft and smooth in Andy's hands. But you get such underwear from your life partner, your sweetheart or your boyfriend, but not from your boss. What was that???

Andy shook her head in confusion and irritation and lowered herself onto the bed. Had she become Miranda's favorite dress-up doll or what was that all about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Andys Pixie Cut -> https://www.pinterest.de/pin/25895766597187930/


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh, here you are." Cara stuck her head in Andy's room and grinned broadly at her.

“Wow, your hairstyle is awesome. I really like it. Oh, your clothes have already arrived.” Cara said amazed and came into the room.

"What's going on?" She asked when she saw Andy's expression.

"Nothing, I just mean ... I'm just trying to understand ... you know ... I mean why is Miranda giving me all this stuff? I'm just the nanny and who knows how long I'll work here. This is crazy. Is it ... right?" Andy asked desperately and looked at Cara with her big brown eyes.

“Well, that's the way from her. Don't think too much about it and be happy that you have nice clothes now." Cara replied friendly.

Andy looked at her with wide eyes.

“My God Cara, you're not mad at me, are you?” Andy asked anxiously and Cara looked at her confused.

"No, why should I be mad at you?"

"Well, because Miranda gave me all these things."

“Oh nonsense, that's okay. In the beginning she did the same for me. Until I had a better grip on my choice of clothes myself. So don't worry." Cara waved her off and Andy was relieved.

"Cara, but seriously, how am I supposed to wear these clothes and these shoes work?" Andy asked helplessly and doubtfully, pointed to the shoeboxes, which were all open.

Cara laughed and gently brushed Andy Pony out of her eyes.

“You just have to talk to Miranda about the fact that you need sensible footwear when you are out with the girls in the park, on an excursion or on various other occasions. Simply explain to her and she will get you what is appropriate for her understanding. Don't worry, she's only half as crazy as you think right now. But trust me, you will have to wear these shoes and these fancy dresses, especially when it comes to accompanying the girls to their performance in Dalton. "

"Performance?"

“Yes, both of them are very musical and have performance and concerts every now and then. Miranda won't make it to most of the concerts herself, so it's your job to be there and support the girls. And there is a dress code in Dalton. And really, you will feel a lot more comfortable if you are dressed like the other people there.” Cara explained sensibly before looking at her watch.

“The girls are coming soon. They already ate at school. Their next appointment with their therapist isn't until 4.30 p.m., so it's good if we let they rest a little before we have to go. They will argue and sulk and say that they are already too big for an afternoon nap. But they have a long day behind and therapy is also strenuous, so it is important that they rest beforehand. There is no discussion about that.” Cara explained and Andy noted it down mentally because she did not have her notebook at hand.

"Let's go downstairs and wait for the girls downstairs."

***************************

"Girl, it's time for afternoon nap, so who would you like to have with you?" Asked Cara after the girls had stowed their school bags and jackets in the built-in closet in the hallway.

"Oh Cara, we're already too big to take a nap." Caroline moaned, but Cara shook her head.

"No discussion. So Caroline do you want me to spend time with you or Andy?"

Caroline and Cassidy looked at each other and talked to each other in silence, as they always did and which looked pretty creepy to Andy when she first noticed it.

"I'll take Andy." Caroline said with a sigh and Andy grinned at her.

"Great, come on then, we don't have that much time."

Caroline rolled her eyes while her sister and Cara giggled.

As soon as Andy and Caroline were in Caroline's room, Andy sat down on Caroline's bed and knocked next to her. Caroline looked at her skeptically.

"Come here, let's make it comfortable." Andy said cheerfully and Caroline frowned.

"You want to take a nap with me?" She asked with a frown.

"Sure, what else, so come on or did you have other plans?"

"Hm ... so far no nanny has gone to bed with us to take a nap."

“I haven't been a nanny either, so let's try this out. Okay?"

"You know, I can go to mom and tell her you're a terrible nanny if you want to force me to do things I don't want." Caroline said seriously and put her little hands on her hips and gave Andy a challenging look.

"Yeah, I bet you could. But you know, I'm not going to be kind to you and let you do things you want just so I can keep this job. I don't care. I will be kind to you because I am a kind person. However, I will also be strict with you when a situation calls for it and you certainly won't always like it. But you have to trust me because I only want the best for you and your sister and it is my job to protect and support you as long as it is in my power. But I don't want to come here every day and be afraid of losing my job just because you don't like something that I say or will determine. So let's get this straight, I'm here because I want to be there for you and your sister. So tell me right away, should I go or do we want to try it?" Andy asked and Caroline looked at her puzzled. Nobody had spoken to her that seriously before.

Slowly she crawled onto her bed and Andy happily took her in her arms. They both lay down and Andy snuggled contentedly against Caroline.

"I knew you were a cuddler." Andy teased Caroline, who then snorted once, but allowed Andy her to be pulled even closer. A few moments later they both fell asleep.

***************************

"Andy, Caroline wake up!" Cara shook Andy's shoulder. Andy grumbled and turned while Caroline perked up pretty quickly.

Cassidy, Caroline and Cara looked at Andy, who was still pressing her head into the pillow and muttering to herself "another 5 min. Mom."

“Andy, it's Cara. We have to go to therapy, so come on.” she said softly, trying to pull Andy into a sitting position. Andy grumbled and looked at the three in confusion.

They could see exactly how it slowly began to rattle and rattle in Andys head until she suddenly shot out of bed, getting caught in the bedspread and slamming hard on the floor.

Cara hurried over to her and helped her get up.

"Are you all right?" She asked worriedly, while Andy ran through her short hair and still didn't look very cheerful.

“Yeah ... I ... I'm so sorry. I ... we can go." She said completely off the track, while she slowly got up and tried to stand upright with shaking legs.

"So no more nap time for Andy." Announced Caroline and grinned broadly at Andy. "Much too dangerous for she."

Cara and Cassidy giggled.

Andy looked at her pained, it was just too embarrassing. Her job was to take care of the children and not fall asleep and yet she was quite asleep and waking up was all the more annoying because she still felt foggy.

"Come on." she said gruffly and the other three giggled.

“So you're a nag when you wake up. Good to know.” Cara said and winked at the girls who giggled again.

"No, I'm not really." Andy replied, nibbling poutily on her lower lip.

"Okay, you know, you can continue to sleep in the car, maybe that will improve your mood." Caroline offered cheekily and Andy rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, nice of you." She replied and when all four were sitting in the car, Andy really dozed off again on the way to the therapist. Caroline and Cassidy grabbed their cell phones and took quiet photos of her as evidence and looked at each other a little devilishly. It was always good to have evidence in case they wanted to blackmail someone.

Both girls were young, but they weren't stupid.

***************************

That evening when Miranda came home from work, clearly late, it was well after 10 p.m., she found Andrea on the stairs.

"Andrea?" She asked astonished and the young woman, who had just read some papers in her hand, jumped up nervously.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have been waiting for you. Here are my notes on the whole daily routine.” Andy replied and handed the papers to Miranda. Miranda looked at her in surprise and only then did she notice Andy's new hairstyle. She looked closely at Andy for a long moment before saying "nice".

Andy's face flushed instantly and her eyes lit up clearly.

"... Thanks ..." said Andy shyly. "May I go now?" She asked softly and Miranda nodded her head. Andy thanked her quickly and wished her good night before she grabbed her bag and jacket from the built-in closet and was out the front door.

Miranda watched her go and shook her head. God, was the girl in a hurry. But she had really surprised Miranda with her new hairstyle, pleasantly surprised. When she told Andrea to get a decent haircut, she actually thought that the girl would have her tips cut and that she would make her shine again with a hair treatment. She never expected a pixie cut. Miranda was seriously impressed with how the new hairstyle made Andrea's natural beauty even more beautiful.

Amazed at her thoughts, she shook her head and sighed deeply, brushing her thoughts aside.

Since the book wasn't there yet, Miranda went upstairs with the papers Andrea had just given her. But before she took it to her study to read, she stopped by her daughters' rooms. Both were fast asleep, but that didn't stop Miranda from blowing a goodnight kiss on her cheek.

***************************

The next morning the twins were already sitting at the table and having breakfast while Stephen left his newspaper. Miranda sat down with them and sipped her hot coffee while looking at her girls curiously.

"Bobbseys how was your day yesterday?" She asked curiously and the girls started giggling. Even Stephen looked up briefly from his newspaper before reading on.

"It was funny." Cassidy explained first and Miranda immediately raised her eyebrow and looked at her questioningly.

"Yes? What happened?"

"Oh, Andy just fell out of Caroline's bed and fell asleep in the car on the way to the therapist." Cassidy replied, but got an angry look from Caroline.

Miranda looked at the girls in confusion.

"Can you explain that to me in more detail?" She asked seriously and before Cassidy could tell more, Caroline jumped in.

"Oh mom it was nothing, Andy took a nap with me and fell fast asleep. When Cara woke us up, she was only a little beside her and therefore fell out of bed. It was all okay, Cassidy exaggerated.” Caroline said soothingly and Miranda raised her eyebrows again, on the one hand because her daughter spoke so protectively for Andrea and on the other hand because this indicated that Caroline had already connected with Andrea.

"Has she hurt herself?" Miranda asked worried.

“No, no, she's okay. Here look.” Cassidy took out her cell phone and showed her mom the picture of Andy sleeping in the car on the way to therapy.

Miranda took the cell phone and took a closer look at the picture. Seeing Andrea sleep was quite a sensation, she looked lovely doing it and so relaxed. Very different from what she had seen before from Andrea. When she was awake, the girl around Miranda seemed terribly scared, shy and nervous.

"Hm ... Andrea didn't mention anything about this event in the notes she gave me about your daily routine yesterday." Miranda replied dryly and both girls laughed loudly.

Caroline stopped laughing at first when something occurred to her.

"Um ... she won't get in trouble, will she, Mom?" Caroline asked softly, but when Miranda shook her head and looked at her gently, her little face lit up again.

"Thanks mom," said Caroline, leaning over and giving her a peck on her cheek. Miranda was surprised by this brief affectionate exchange, as her daughter was rather stingy with these expressions of affection.

"It's okay, Bobbseys." Miranda said softly and patted Caroline's shoulder gently.


	5. Chapter 5

Andy quickly learned that the twins' week was packed with appointments. On Mondays they had riding lessons, Tuesday therapy, Wednesday music lessons, Thursday sports, and on Fridays the twins were picked up by their dad every other week. On the weekends where they stayed with Miranda, she had play dates, school and/or sporting events, concerts or performances on Saturdays and Sundays. Once all these appointments were done, they had homework to do every day, and their workload was a lot for 11 year old girls, in Andy's opinion. 

Cara had withdrawn more and more during the first week and let Andy do it. On Friday afternoon, however, all four of them had gone to a fancy ice cream parlor and the girls invited Cara and Andy out for ice cream as a going-away present for Cara and a housewarming present for Andy. 

Since the first week was really exhausting, Andy had decided to visit Dalton in the second week and talk to the twins' teachers to find out which subjects they really needed to catch up on, which ones they were doing well in, what tips and advice the teachers had to motivate the twins to cooperate more, especially with homework, where there were regular discussions. 

Andy diligently took notes and then created a study plan at home, both to ensure that the girls' grades improved and their performance and skills were solidified, and to minimize the many daily discussions, tears, tantrums, and stress involved. 

It took a few weeks, but the girls gradually settled well into Andy's learning plan. And as it worked better and the girls' grades slowly but steadily improved, they felt better about themselves, gained more self-esteem and confidence, and began to approach their homework and school projects with more motivation. So especially the discussions, tantrums and tears fell away. Which was really a good thing, because it left more time for recreational activities or just being a kid. 

For a while it went surprisingly well and Andy was really happy that she managed the job so well and that the girls had accepted her so well and liked her. She herself had begun to love them after only a short time. 

Nate didn't like that because he knew Andy and knew how hard she would take it if Miranda fired her at some point because of some mistake or whatever came to her mind and then it would break Andy's heart when she was no longer a part of the twins' lives. But Andy couldn't help it, she was the way she was, just a soft nut with a way too big heart. 

That's why it hit her very hard when the twins suddenly started to change their behavior completely. For days they had been arguing, yelling at each other, crying, fighting each other, being bitchy, grumpy, verbally aggressive and completely confused. 

"Okay, okay, okay...stop it, I can't take it anymore!" cried Andy desperately as she stumbled into Cassidy's room after hearing from her room the twins going at each other again and yelling loudly at each other.

Exhausted and drained, Andy flopped down on Cassidy's bed and began to cry in frustration. She pulled her legs to her and buried her head in her hands, letting her tears run freely. She had no idea how to fix the twins' emotional chaos. She had asked them several times to tell her what was going on, but the twins wouldn't tell her. She was at the end of her patience, composure, and wisdom on how to act. 

Cassidy and Caroline stopped arguing and looked at her in dismay before crawling over to Andy on the bed and looking at her with concern. 

"Andy?" they both asked quietly, and Andy lifted her head to look at them with teary eyes and a hopeless look. 

"I don't know what's going on with you guys and how I can help you. And if this keeps up, I'm not sure I can keep working here. I...I...I'm sorry." Andy began to cry again and the girls began to cry and lean on Andy as well. 

Andy quickly wrapped them in her arms and hugged them tightly. They sat like that for quite a while, crying, until Andy calmed down again. 

"I..., I really want to help you. Please tell me what's wrong." Andy asked quietly and the girls looked at each other silently communicating. 

"Stephen and Mom are fighting." murmured Caroline softly and Andy looked at her with her big brown eyes. 

"We hate it when they fight." Cassidy whispered. 

"We can hear them, even though they're quiet." Both girls confessed at the same time and Andy suddenly understood what was going on. No wonder the girls were so messed up right now. Only Andy couldn't understand why they were fighting each other instead of standing by each other. 

"But then why are you fighting?" asked Andy quietly, looking at both girls in wonder. 

"Caroline thinks Stephen is right to berate Mom for never being home or for never bothering to come home on time." Cassidy confessed, and Caroline squirmed out of Andy's embrace. 

"She doesn't love us, so she's never around. Cassidy thinks that's not true. That's why we fight." Caroline now confessed and she began to cry again. Andy quickly wrapped her back in her arms, as did Cassidy. 

"No, no, no... you can't think of your mom like that. She loves you guys, yes really, she loves you so much. You are her Bobbseys, her darlings, her wonderful smart girls. She's so proud of you guys," Andy said. It hurt her heart that the girls assumed their mom didn't love them and was hardly ever home because of it. 

"Then how come she's never here?" asked Caroline skeptically, looking challengingly at Andy. 

"Because she's the editor-in-chief of Runway, she has a lot of responsibility." Andy whispered softly. Secretly, Andy also didn't know why Miranda worked so much and so hard and took so little time for her daughters, when the two of them missed their mom so much and just wanted to live a normal family life. 

Andy sighed deeply.

"But that's what I'm here for. She hired me to be there for you, to support you, to protect you, to love you, and to kick your butts when you don't do your homework. I know that's not the same as having your mom with you, but you like me too, right?" asked Andy, winking at the twins. 

"We love you Andy!" They both exclaimed at the same time and Andy smiled warmly at them. 

"I know, I love you guys too." 

"Please don't tell Mom we had a fight and it's been such a lousy last few days." Caroline asked softly and Andy nodded her head and stroked through Caroline red hair. 

"I promise I won't say anything, but only if you promise me not to fight anymore. Can you promise me that?"

"Yes." both girls said again at the same time and Andy smiled happily at them. 

"But Andy, what are we going to do if they fight again and Stephen says so many mean things to Mom?" asked Cassidy thoughtfully. 

Andy swallowed once, twice. 

"What does Stehpen say to your mom?" she asked quietly, though she was sure she didn't really want to know. 

"He said she's a cold bitch and that she has no heart. That she's manipulative, selfish, vindictive and selfish. That her work is more important to her than her family and that she doesn't love us. Neither him, nor us twins." Caroline confessed seriously and Andy looked at her with her wide eyes in dismay. 

"He's so mean to mom and mom doesn't say anything about it, she..., she doesn't even defend herself. She..., Caroline and I, we know Stephen's words hurt her. She cries sometimes when she's alone in her bedroom." Cassidy said sadly and Caroline nodded her head to confirm it. 

"I'll figure something out so you won't hear your parents fighting anymore. Okay?" asked Andy, ruffling her short hair in the face of this new challenge.

Andy sighed deeply and then began to think of a new plan to help the girls.

***************************

Back when she was a kid, her sister Rachel and she had a tree house out back where they could retreat and be by themselves whenever they wanted. Andy remembered many wonderful and great times she had spent there, as a child, but also still as a teenager.

Unfortunately, there was no tree in the garden behind the townhouse that was suitable for a tree house, so Andy went around the townhouse looking for a place where the girls could retreat. 

But neither in the basement, nor in the three floors above, she found a suitable place. Sighing, Andy turned the doorknob to a door she had not yet opened. Surprised, she saw a staircase leading up. Carefully and quietly, Andy climbed the stairs and found herself there facing another door. Fortunately, this door was not locked, so Andy was able to open it and what she found behind it really pleased her. 

It was the attic, which ran the length of the townhouse. Andy turned on the overhead light and wandered through the rows of boxes, crates and pieces of furniture left behind, beaming happily. She had finally found a place for the girls. 

Over the next few days, she kept coming up to the attic while the girls were at school and tidying up and cleaning. Andy moved the sofa, which turned out to be a sleeper sofa, into the right corner of the attic. It took her what felt like hours, but when it was done, she was overjoyed. Then she laid old rugs, which actually still looked perfectly fine to her sensibilities, across the cold floor, draped a small coffee table in front of the sofa bed, several floor lamps, for which she had bought softly shining light bulbs, beside and behind it. She still attached colorful strings of lights to the attic ceiling. Andy found bedspreads, woolen blankets and pillows in some boxes, which she positioned on the sofa bed. Last but not least, and this was a real stroke of luck, she found an old radio that still worked, so she could even listen to some music when she continued to decorate the attic with small things. Then she got a supply of snacks, which she hid in a wooden box, on the lid she neatly wrote *For extreme emergencies*.

After Andy was quite sure that the attic was now a cozy retreat for the twins, she decided to let them in. 

Excited and very nervous, she entered Caroline's room. 

"Hey kids, I have a surprise for you. I..." before Andy could go on, both girls had jumped up and were bouncing around excitedly in front of Andy, asking her to show her the surprise. 

"Okay, okay, calm down. Before I show you the surprise, there's something I want to talk to you both about, so sit down for a minute." asked Andy and the twins obeyed. 

"I have thought of something to help you. But I don't want you to talk to anyone about it because it has to be a secret between you two and me. Okay?" asked Andy, and the twins looked at her questioningly. 

"A secret?" asked the twins at the same time and Andys looked at them amused. 

"Yes, one of the biggest secrets we will ever share. So I would like to ask you, before I show you the surprise, that you will keep this secret forever and never tell anyone about it. Could you do that for me?" asked Andy in a soft and very mystical voice and the twins nodded their heads. 

"Good, then swear to me on your honor that you will never trust anyone with our secret." said Andy seriously, looking deep into the girls' eyes. 

"We promise." they both said again at the same time and Andy beamed a huge warm smile at them. 

"Very well, then come. But we have to be quiet and take the back stairs so no one sees us. Okay?" 

"Yes." the twins said conspiratorially quietly. 

Andy took Caroline's hand in hers and walked with her up the back stairs, Cassidy quietly following. Then, on the third floor, Andy stopped at the attic door and looked conspiratorially at the girls again, then looked ahead and back and to the side, as if expecting to be surprised by someone else. 

"Come." She whispered softly and opened the door, quickly pushing the girls up the attic stairs. 

Both twins looked at her irritably. They knew it went up to the attic, but what on earth could be there that Andy wanted to show them?

"Shht...and be careful going up." said Andy again conspiratorially and the girls did as they were told. 

Once at the top of the stairs, Andy looked at the girls again. 

"You know, you'll have to go in by yourselves, I don't have an access pass." she said as she opened the door and pushed the girls inside. 

At first, the girls looked at Andy questioningly, but then cautiously walked into the attic. Since Andy had placed some boxes and crates and racks of clothes, with old clothes, so that they blocked the right side of the attic at the entrance to the attic, the girls did not immediately see what Andy wanted to show them. It wasn't until they kept walking that they saw it. As soon as they saw it, they came running back to Andy and pulled her into the attic with them. 

"Andy what is this?" she asked excitedly and Andy beamed at her. 

"This is your retreat from now on. Whenever you feel bad because your parents are fighting, you can come here and do whatever you want. You have to promise me, though, that you won't do anything to endanger yourselves here, okay?"

"We promise. Thank you so much!" they said again at the same time, hugging Andy stormily, and Andy grinned lovingly at them, stroking their heads gently.


	6. Chapter 6

A few weeks later Miranda came home very early, firstly because two appointments had been cancelled at short notice, without really good reasons, and secondly because she had little desire to go back to Runway. The last weeks had been stressful and frustrating for her, more than ever before. She had been surrounded by nothing but incompetent employees who just couldn't seem to get the simplest things she asked for done exactly as she wanted and imagined. 

It was a Thursday, the girls had already asked to stop playing sports a few weeks ago and Miranda had allowed them after realizing that volleyball was not really a sport for her girls. The risk of injury was also far too great, so she had gladly agreed to let the girls stop playing the sport. 

She unlocked the front door and entered the house. Everything was quiet, suspiciously quiet. Miranda hung her coat in the hall closet, set her purse down on the dresser, and then went into the kitchen, where she bumped into Mrs. Piers, the housekeeper. 

"It's pretty quiet today, where are the girls?" 

Mrs. Pries looked at Miranda in surprise and Miranda raised her eyebrow questioningly. 

"Oh, they're somewhere in the house, shall I call them?"

"No, no. I'll just go find them. When will dinner be ready?"

"In about 45 min."

"Good." 

Miranda turned, walked back through the hallway, and climbed the stairs to the second floor. The girls' room doors were open, but the rooms were empty. Miranda looked around Cassidy's room for a moment before walking over to Caroline's room. Both rooms were surprisingly tidy. Which was odd in itself, since both of her daughters were rather sloppy with their things. So either Andrea was cleaning up after the two of them, or she had finally taught the girls to take better care of their things. 

Miranda let a glance roam over Caroline's pinboard and looked curiously at the various lists hanging there. Hmm... that was new, too. But where in God's name were her girls and Andrea?

Miranda looked in every room on the second floor, in her bedroom, the adjoining bathroom, as well as her dressing rooms, in Stephen's bedroom and bathroom, in Andrea's nearly unused nanny's room.... nothing. Frustrated, she climbed to the third floor, certain that she would not find her girls there, since there were only guest rooms and the stairs to the attic. 

Nevertheless, she climbed up and looked into the first guest room, which she reached first, when she found it just as empty as the other rooms she had been in before, she suddenly heard a muffled noise. 

Frowning, she looked at the door that led to the attic. It was only ajar. Quietly, she opened the door and cautiously climbed the stairs. 

At the top she heard soft voices. Carefully, she opened the attic door and heard her children's voices more clearly now. 

"Andy, I'm ready. Can you go see if everything is right?" just asked Caroline, who could not yet see Miranda. So she entered the attic quietly and took a few steps closer. Only then did she see her daughters and Andrea. Surprised, she held her breath for a moment. 

Andrea was sitting on the folded-out sofa bed, just taking in Caroline's work, while Caroline snuggled up to her. Cassidy lay next to them, nibbling on her pencil as she thought hard in her head. 

Andrea read Caroline's work intently as her fingers gently stroked through her hair. 

"It's pretty good so far, but you need to work on your word choice. You use way too often, the same words. See here, you write *and then* and here again and there the same way. Instead of writing *and then* you could write *first, after, or last, or before*. It makes your essay more interesting. Okay?" asked Andrea gently, and Caroline nodded her head and took her work back, lying down on the sofa next to Cassidy.

"Okay, I'll change it right now. Thanks Andy." said Caroline and Andy smiled softly at her before picking up her magazine again and continuing to read the article. 

"How are you doing Cassidy?" she asked. 

"Okay, what are you reading?" asked Cassidy, straightening up and climbing over her sister to give Andy her homework assignment. 

"Oh, just this article on biotechnology." explained Andy and the girls looked at her curiously. 

"Will you explain it to us?" they both asked at the same time and Andy laughed. 

"Yes, put it on the list and I'll read up on it in more detail and then explain it to you." said Andy, looking back down at Cassidy's math assignment. 

Caroline, meanwhile, had grabbed a paper and written down the topic. 

"Done." she said, beaming, and Andy looked up from the math assignment. 

"Great."

"Andy can we have a snack?" asked Cassidy, and Caroline clapped her hands. 

"No, for one thing it just says *for extreme emergencies* at the top, and for another, dinner is coming soon." explained Andy, handing Cassidy back her assignments. 

"There's a mistake here, you need to go through all the math again and you'll notice what's wrong." she said, handing the assignments back to Cassidy. 

"Are you eating with us today?" asked Caroline excitedly and Andy frowned at her. 

"Hmm..., what does the datebook say? Hand it to me please." asked Andy and Caroline climbed off the sofa bed and took the appointment book from the coffee table and then handed it to Andy. 

"So Emily confirmed two afternoon appointments for today, so your mom won't be home until 9 p.m." said Andy and the girls looked at her sadly. 

"What about Stephen?" asked Cassidy quietly. 

"Umm... His schedule is very fuzzy, as usual. His secretary couldn't exactly confirm his schedule for tonight. Sorry, so it'll be a surprise." said Andy sighing and the girls dropped back onto sofa bed. 

"So if one of your parents is present then not, if no one is then I'll be there for dinner." explained Andy and the girls snorted a little. 

"Andy why don't you ever eat with us when one or both are there? Cara always did!" Caroline exclaimed in frustration. 

Andy looked at her sadly and gave her a peck on the top of her head. 

"Honey you know why I don't eat with you guys when one or both of your parents are there. So don't bug me about it anymore. Okay?" asked Andy gently and both girls nodded their heads sadly. 

"Okay." they said at the same time. 

"Thanks." replied Andy "Back to your assignments, I need to continue reading the article." 

Miranda quietly retreated and descended the stairs again. Several questions swirled in her mind that she desperately wanted answers to. First, why had the girls made themselves comfortable upstairs in the attic, then why was Andrea monitoring Stephen's and her own schedules, and lastly, why did Andrea refuse to eat with her children when Stephen and/or she were home?


	7. Chapter 7

"Mom, you're here already?" the girls exclaimed excitedly as they came into the kitchen with Andy to see if dinner was ready. 

Both girls greeted their mom with a peck each on the cheek and Miranda smiled at them delightedly. 

"Yeah, my last few appointments fell through and I didn't feel much like going back to the office." replied Miranda and then looked at Andy who was standing in the kitchen doorway fidgeting a little nervously. 

"I tried to let you know earlier, but I couldn't find you. Where were you?" asked Miranda curiously and the girls looked at each other and then at Andy and then at Miranda. 

"We were..." before Cassidy could spill her secret, Caroline nudged her and quietly hissed at her to shut up. 

Miranda looked at the girls and then at Andy questioningly. 

"The girls and I, had some things to do. We were at the house, but it's a secret." Andy answered quietly and Miranda looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 

"Yeah, that's right mom, it's a secret. But we haven't done anything bad. We've been good, right Andy?" asked Caroline and Andy nodded her head.

"Okay, good." sighed Miranda. 

"Andrea I hope you'll eat with us for dinner tonight." said Miranda to Andy shortly after and Andy got even more nervous. 

"Um...I actually have some things to do.... I..." before she could speak further, Miranda looked at her, frowning. 

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, whatever you have to do so urgently can wait until after dinner." replied Miranda and Andy looked at her with wide eyes in disbelief. 

"Yes, Miranda," was all she managed to say. 

"Good, then let's go over to the dining room, Mrs. Piers has already prepared everything. And we don't want the food to get cold do we?" asked Miranda, not expecting an answer. 

Anyway, the girls were very happy that Andy was eating with them today, so they pushed her into the dining room before Andy could escape or make any other excuse. 

"Andrea, you sit next to me." demanded Miranda, and Andy tried to swallow the fat lump in her throat and get her heart beating normally again. Her hands began to shake slightly and her stomach knotted automatically. Miranda still made her nervous, partly because she was such a beautiful and stylish woman and partly because with Miranda you could never be sure what might happen next and what twisted ideas or demands she had in store. 

"God Andrea, it's just dinner, not your execution. So relax and stop fidgeting." Miranda demanded a little more sternly than she had intended and Andy instantly stiffened. 

"Mom!!!" Caroline exclaimed indignantly, scowling at Miranda with a look that could kill. 

Miranda looked at her daughter in surprise and then at Andy and then sighed deeply.

"It's just dinner, please relax." she said more gently to Andy and Andy nodded her head. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't just dinner among the two women and the two girls, as Stephen joined them a short time later.

Miranda looked at everything carefully and was very aware of the tense atmosphere. Only, unfortunately, she did not know why this atmosphere was so tense. The girls tried to take over the conversation and talk about their day at school, while Andy seemed to be listlessly poking around in her food, keeping her head down, very tense and probably wishing she were invisible. Stephen was listlessly joining in the conversation, instead just looking alternately at Andy and Miranda with unreadable stares. And Miranda was more concerned with taking it all in and figuring out what was wrong. 

The girls ate their dinner rather quickly, which amazed Miranda quite a bit, where the girls did most of the talking and didn't even seem to notice the tense situation. Once they finished eating, they pushed their plates in front of them. 

"Mom, we have some things to do before we have to go to bed, can we get up?" they both asked at the same time and Miranda nodded her head in resignation. For the first time in about 20-30 minutes, Andy seemed to relax as she stood up with the girls to go upstairs with them. 

"Andrea, I'd like to see you in my study later, once the girls are in bed. That's all." she said and Andy stopped rooted to the spot. 

"Yes, Miranda." she said softly as the girls stepped to her side and pulled her down the hall with them.

**********************************

While Miranda had quietly slipped out of the attic earlier, she had stopped by her daughters' rooms once more and taken down some of the lists that were pinned to the bulletin board there and looked at them a bit, then she had stopped by Andrea's room and found some lists and other pieces of paper and notes there as well. She had taken all this earlier and put it in her study. And now she wanted to talk to Andrea about it, but also about Andrea's behavior during dinner.

Miranda couldn't quite figure out these girl. Yes, certainly her coworkers at Runway all feared her, especially her impatience, her high standards, her perfectionism, and the sharp, often condescending and insulting words she had for any coworker she deemed incompetent. 

Yet here in her own home, she wasn't Miranda the Editor-in-Chief of Runway. No, here she was Miranda the private person. And as such, she was much gentler, more patient, and also more soulful. So why in God's name was Andrea afraid of her? Had she ever given Andrea any reason to be in the past 4 months since she started working here? Hadn't she given Andrea fancy new clothes so that she now looked much better and didn't feel belittled in the upscale circles, like in Dalton? Hadn't she given her every freedom in how to deal with her daughters? She had given little direction in that regard, and so far she had never expressed any concerns about Andrea's parenting goals or how she approached her job as nanny. Or had she not fulfilled every request Andrea had made of her so far?

Miranda paused. Andrea had actually, when she thought about it carefully, never made a request to her before. Hmm... Andrea was a complete mystery to her. 

**********************************

"Andy, you have to stop shaking and worrying. Please." begged Caroline, desperately. 

Ever since they had come up from dinner, Andy had become a nervous wreck. She was shaking all over and had not uttered a decent or normal thought. She had only ever mumbled that she was totally was screwed. 

Caroline and Cassidy sat next to her and hugged her lovingly. 

"If Mom fires you, I'll never speak a word to her again." Cassidy declared, and Caroline nodded her head in agreement. 

"Mom has no reason to fire you at all. I'm going to go and tell her." Caroline decided, but Andy held her tightly and looked at her pleadingly. 

"No little one, please don't do that. It's okay, if she decided to fire me then that's fine and she has every right to do that." said Andy softly but Caroline looked at her horrified. 

"No, no, no, it's not okay. We love you and she can't just throw you out of our lives like that. She has no right!!!" Caroline exclaimed angrily and Cassidy agreed with her, nodding her head. 

"I love you guys too, even though I shouldn't." replied Andy dejectedly and the twins looked at her in wonder. 

"Why shouldn't you love us?" they both asked curiously at the same time. 

"Because it's not good to associate me with you guys so much, because I'm not your mom and your mom can terminate me at any time. And Nate doesn't like it either." Andy confessed quietly. 

The twins looked at her quietly and understood what Andy was saying. But they didn't like it very much. 

Andy sighed deeply, wiped her tears from her face with her shirt sleeves and looked at the twins confidently. 

"Come on, you have to pack your school bags for tomorrow now and then get ready for bed." said Andy and the twins groaned at the same time.

"Andy?" the twins asked after everything was done and Andy was about to tuck them both into bed. 

"Yeah?" 

"We can never go to sleep if we don't know what Mom wants you to do in her study. Can't we wait here until then and you tell us if you get back?" asked Caroline and Andy smiled bravely at her. 

"Okay. I'll be going then so you can get to sleep soon." 

Andy got up with a sigh, kissed the girls on their heads some more, and then walked out of Caroline's room with a heavy heart. Both girls crawled under Caroline's covers and snuggled up to each other.


	8. Chapter 8

Once Andy had descended the stairs to the second floor and approached the door to the study, she stood still for a moment and took a deep breath. Before she could decide to just walk away, she knocked softly but boldly on the door. 

"Come in." 

Andy opened the door and stopped uncertainly in the doorway. Miranda was sitting at her desk, looking straight down at some papers. 

"I...if I'm interrupting, I can come back later." muttered Andy quietly, already about to leave. 

"Andrea don't be silly, come in and sit down." said Miranda looking up at her. Andy slowly came into the study and all the way until she sat down on the chair in front of Miranda's desk, Miranda looked at her closely and then frowned, considering that Andrea looked very ravaged. Her short hair was a mess and her eyes were red. Had she been crying? Why, what had happened? Miranda sighed deeply. Before she could ask, however, Andrea spoke first. 

"The..., the girls.... said they can't go to sleep until they know if you're firing me." brought Andy out quietly and Miranda looked at her in surprise. 

"Andrea don't be ridiculous, why would I fire you?" asked Miranda surprised straight out and Andy looked at her irritated. 

"Because..., because..., you asked me to come here.... And..." stuttered Andy nervously. 

"I asked you here because I wanted to talk to you about it." Miranda held up the notes she had taken from the twins' bulletin boards, then placed them in front of Andy. 

"I'd like you to explain this to me." said Miranda quietly, and Andy looked at her with wide eyes. 

"Oh, okay." said Andy relieved and took the slips of paper and went through them.

"So this is the list of the twins' different teachers. If we get stuck on different assignments, we call the appropriate teacher and ask. If we can't reach anyone, we either call the appropriate tutors or other classmates that we think can help us." explained Andy, the first 3 lists. 

"This is the list of homework that needs to be done this month. I asked the teachers some time ago to give us an overview at the beginning of the month of what homework will be due. This way we can work on it more effectively and turn everything in on time. Everything that is done is checked off and we can see what still needs to be done. The more we get done, the more free time we have to do fun or nice things." Andy now confidently explained because she was fully in her element as she picked out the next list. 

"This is the reward list, it's made up of three different things. The girls get one star for each task they complete without grumbling or growling. The first is volunteering to clean their room, the second is each homework assignment completed, and third is getting ready for school. For this, I give the girls this list where I write down exactly what they need to pack in their school bags for the next day. After they are done with it, I check it again and check everything off. When the girls reach a certain number of stars, they get a reward. This can be anything. A field trip, a DVD afternoon or ice cream or anything else, but nothing material." 

Andy pulled out another list while Miranda listened quietly and intently, looking at her with interest and also a bit of admiration now that she saw for the first time how Andrea so confidently stood up and explained her lists and what was behind them. 

"This list here is our list of topics. As soon as the girls find a topic interesting, they write it on the list and I find out more about that topic and then explain it to them at a later time. Something like a little lecture, the girls are supposed to take notes on it, ask questions or make assumptions or theses themselves and then give me a short summary about it later so I can check if they have internalized or even understood the topic. The topic list is an optional thing, but the twins are very curious about a lot of different topics and they enjoy it, so the list is always well filled." Andy explained, looking at Miranda for the first time. 

"Good and what's this?" asked Miranda, holding up a round disk with different faces on it and a pointer attached to the disk.

Andy sighed deeply and she fidgeted restlessly back and forth in her chair. 

"Andrea?" 

"Um... that's the mood barometer. The twins were experiencing some mood swings a few weeks ago. Although things were going well in school and they were taking well to everything I provided, they were emotionally through the roof. They were driving me crazy with it, so I talked to their therapist and she recommended this to us. The girls are supposed to mark their mood with it so I know how they are feeling, even if they can't or won't verbally express it." Andy explained quietly. 

Miranda looked at them thoughtfully for a long moment and then nodded her head. In her eyes Andy could decipher sadness, but she wasn't sure she was interpreting it correctly. 

"I am impressed by all these lists and what you have accomplished with the girls. I really had no idea you were so organized. But what amazes me is that you give me your detailed notes every night, but never mentioned in them the mood swings of the girls. Please tell me why it was going on and if they are still struggling with it." Miranda asked quietly. 

Andy, who had blushed in the face of Miranda's praise moments before, now suddenly looked at her rather pale. 

"The mood swings have subsided and the girls are pretty okay right now. As for what caused the mood swings..., well.... I mean... I don't want to or no... I can't talk about it." replied Andy quietly, looking down at her hands that she had placed in her lap. 

"Why can't you tell me?" asked Miranda, looking closely at Andy as she fidgeted uneasily in her chair, her eyes downcast. 

"I don't want to violate the girls' trust, and it's something that's none of my business as a nanny and I should stay out of." Andy explained dejectedly, then suddenly looked up. "But... I took care of it and the twins are better now." Andy quickly followed up. 

Miranda looked at them in irritation and confusion. 

"Andrea, if it was something serious, I'm going to have to insist that you tell me what was going on." said Miranda seriously. 

Andy looked at her with wide eyes that quickly gathered tears, which she hastily wiped away with the backs of her hands. 

"What if I refuse to tell you?" she asked in a shaky voice.

Miranda looked at her for a long time before answering. 

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to fire you because I can't trust you and you're withholding important information about my children." Miranda then replied seriously, but also with a hint of regret.

Andy swallowed and quickly tried to think over the current situation. If she told Miranda that the girls could overhear their marital quarrels and were therefore disturbed, she would be betraying the girls' trust. However, if she remained silent and did not answer Miranda, she would be fired and thus would no longer be able to assist and protect the girls. Someone else would then get the job as nanny and who knows if they would love the twins as much as Andy did. 

Tears began to run freely down Andy's cheeks as she pondered what to do now. 

Miranda, meanwhile, looked at Andy in horror and dismay. There was no way she had wanted to make Andrea cry, she just wanted to know why her daughters were miserable. Damn it.

"Miranda please, I can't tell you, but you have to trust me that I've handled the situation and the girls are fine." Andy brought out in a tearful raspy voice. She fervently hoped that Miranda would not dismiss her. 

Miranda sighed deeply, got up from her desk chair and paced up and down her study. She didn't want to terminate Andrea, after all, she was doing a good job with the girls, they had improved in school. Her daughters loved Andrea, Miranda couldn't ignore that. The girls would be very, very, very upset with her if she fired Andrea. Who knew what kind of mess that would make. 

"Does it have anything to do with you guys being up in the attic?" so Miranda suddenly asked after that came back to her mind, and Andy looked at her in horror. 

"You..., you... know about the attic?" she asked, stuttering. 

"Yes, I looked for you all over the house earlier and found you up there. I admit I was eavesdropping for a while, which is not a good trait and something I've always refused to do until now. I apologize for that. But I would really like to know why you and the girls were up there. Can you at least answer that for me?" Miranda asked a little more gently now, but still in a way that made it clear she really wanted answers to her questions. 

"It's a retreat for the girls, a place where they can do whatever they want, as long as they don't endanger themselves in the process. Actually, it was their place, but they insist that I be present. So we are often there together. The girls like to do their homework there, read or watch movies on the old TV with the DVD players or just listen to music or we talk and chat about this or that. It has been a good thing to counteract their mood swings. We really don't do anything bad there. Please don't take the Attic away from them." asked Andy desperately as this thought crossed her mind. 

"Okay, but why can't the girls retreat to their rooms and do all the things there that they do upstairs in the attic?" asked Miranda curiously. 

"Because they can't be undisturbed there and their rooms are too perfectly decorated. The attic is cozy, quaint and also mysterious with all the boxes, crates, clothes racks and the old furniture. There are no expectations, lists or rules there." explained Andy, hoping that Miranda would somehow understand. 

"Hmm..." she just mumbled, looking thoughtfully at Andy. 

"You're very involved in my daughters' lives, honestly I'm a little jealous of you. I..." Miranda stopped and looked at Andy dejectedly and sadly. 

Andy, on the other hand, looked at her with her big brown eyes in disbelief. She never thought Miranda would be jealous of her. 

"Miranda you don't have to feel that way, the girls love you more than anything and they enjoy the time you get to spend with them. Okay, yes, they are often sad because you don't have as much time as they would like, but I have tried to explain to them how important your job is. That you have a big responsibility for the magazine and all your employees and that you want only the best life for your girls and that this requires a lot of hard work on the job. The girls understand that, really." explained Andy, upset.

"Thank you Andrea, that was very thoughtful of you. One more question, I heard that you don't want to have dinner with the girls when Stephen or I are home. What's the deal with that?" asked Miranda and Andy blinked at her sheepishly. 

"I'm just the nanny, I shouldn't be too involved in the family dynamics. I also don't want to be a disruptor and interrupt you guys at family dinners." 

"Cara often shared meals with us, I didn't feel she was a disruptive factor. Where did you get that idea?" 

"Miranda, please... I..."

"Andrea, am I such a horrible person that you don't want to have dinner with me?" asked Miranda softly, interrupting Andy's stuttering. 

Andy lifted her head in fright and looked at Miranda with her big brown eyes. 

"God no Miranda, you're not a horrible person, it's not that. It's..."

"Is it my husband?"

Bingo, Miranda had hit the nail right on the head.

"Yes" Andy replied quietly, preferring not to confide the truth to Miranda. Because the truth was that Stephen, especially when he was drunk, would ambush her from time to time and then look at her lustfully and had also touched her unpleasantly here and there a few times. Andy had always pushed him away and avoided him as much as possible. But having dinner with him and the girls had been a horrible experience, one she'd had in her first days here at the house and so didn't want to repeat.

"What did he do?" asked Miranda, upset, looking at Andy with narrowed eyes. 

"Nothing... he... just doesn't like my company." Andy lied as best she could, hoping Miranda would buy it. 

Miranda looked at her closely for a long time and curled her lips. She knew how her husband could be and what an asshole he was sometimes, especially when he was drunk. Had her husband molested Andrea and she was too scared to tell her? Damn.

"Hmm..., you would tell me if he offended you in any way, wouldn't you?" 

Andy nodded her head and immediately blushed.

"Fine, you don't have to attend the dinners anymore if you don't want to. It's okay." said Miranda and Andy looked at her relieved. 

"Thank you."

"That's all." she said and Andy breathed a sigh of relief, took all the lists from the desk and hurriedly got up from her chair. Before she left the study, however, she turned back to Miranda. 

"About the attic, may the girls continue to use it?" she asked quietly and Miranda nodded her head.

"Thank you, good night Miranda." she said delightedly and scurried out of the study and quickly ascended to the second floor. 

"Andy, what happened? Are you fired? Why were you crying?" the girls immediately assaulted Andy with their questions and Andy sat down on Caroline's bed with a sigh, looking at the girls with a rather tired expression. 

"Your mom just wanted to know what all those lists are that you have on your bulletin board." she explained to the twins, lifting the lists up and showing them. 

"She also knows about the attic and wanted to know what we were doing there. I explained it to her and she allowed us to continue to be there. She also found out about your mood swings, but I didn't tell her why you were so messed up. So I cried because she said if I didn't tell her, she would fire me because she couldn't trust me and I was keeping important information about you from her." Andy explained and the twins looked at her with wide eyes. 

"She fired you?" she asked at the same time, horrified. 

Andy shook her head and ran her right hand through her short hair. 

"No, she didn't fire me. Anyway, she didn't say anything more about it. But you know, I think it would be important if you told your mom why you were miserable." Andy said, and the twins looked at her, chagrined. 

"What if she gets mad at us or if it makes her feel bad?" asked Caroline quietly and Andy pulled her into her arms. 

"She loves you both more than anything in this world. Trust me, she'll want to know and it's important that she knows. How else could she prevent you from getting into a situation like this again?" 

"Okay, we'll tell her, but can you be there?" asked Caroline. 

"Okay. But now you really need to go to sleep. We'll talk about it more tomorrow and decide how to explain it to your mom." 

Andy kissed Cassidy on the top of her head and asked her to go to her own room while she tucked Caroline into bed and wished her a good night. Then she turned out the light and went to Cassidy's room to say good night to her as well. 

When Andy left the townhouse half an hour later, she heaved a deep sigh. Whew, what a nerve-wracking evening.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ah, look who's coming home!" said Nate sarcastically when Andy finally got home. It was already well past 10pm. 

"Hi honey." said Andy tiredly, kissing Nate gently on his cheek. His three-day beard scratched her as she did so, and although she had never minded it before, it was bothering her more and more lately. 

It reminded her of Stephen, who had cornered her a few days ago and had rubbed his cheek against hers when he tried to kiss Andy. Andy had luckily been able to turn away and free herself from his clutches. 

Seeing Stephen sitting nearby at the dinner table today and feeling his sneaking glances at her had really made her quite sick. The realization that she couldn't talk to anyone about it either didn't help her feel much better. 

She couldn't confide in Nate, Miranda, or anyone else. Nate would explode with anger and want to confront Stephen and then it would surely come to a fight. 

Miranda wouldn't believe her, calling her a lying bitch who was causing trouble in her home and family, and she would certainly fire Andy. 

Lilly, her best friend, who was pissed anyway because she could meet Andy so rarely in the last months, because of Andy's job, would only advise her to quit and get another job. But she didn't want to leave the girls and abandon them. The nanny job was okay and she liked doing this job and she loved the twins.

She couldn't tell her parents about it either, she would immediately demand that Andy came home and her father would sue Stephen for harassment at work. But Stephen had so much money, he would twist everything around so that Andy was the one harassing him. There was just no one she could talk to about it. 

"I'm going to take a shower and go to bed then. Good night." so Andy said quietly and went into the bedroom. 

Nate watched her go, frowning, and then sipped his beer bottle. Andy and he had been in minimal contact for weeks now, barely speaking on the few occasions they had, let alone being physically close. 

It annoyed and frustrated him enormously how Andy was drifting more and more away from him and had changed. First outwardly by their chic new clothes and the new hairstyle. And now also emotionally and mentally. She didn't tell him anything about work anymore since he had hinted that she only talked about it and he found it unhealthy how much she had bonded with the twins and only lived for her job. 

He understood that the children were important to Andy. But what about him? Was he no longer important to Andy? Couldn't she even take a night off to hang out and party with him and her friends? Where had the happy, lively, beaming and laughing Andy remained? 

Andy had also rejected his advances more and more in recent days and weeks and had largely avoided him. Just a good night kiss on his cheek was still inside, but otherwise Andy refused to cuddle, kiss, fondle and sex completely. She always had an excuse, sometimes she was too tired, had a headache, her menstruation or came home so late that they had no time because Andy had to get up early again. 

Nate put his beer bottle on the coffee table in frustration and went into the bedroom. He quickly took off his boxers and shirt and entered the bathroom where Andy was already in the shower. 

Andy, who was lost in thought and reflecting on the nerve-wracking evening, was deeply startled when Nate's arms wrapped around her bare stomach and pulled Andy's wet body against his body from behind. 

"God Nate, you scared me. Get out!!!" she screamed as she calmed down. Nate looked at her uncertainly, but then let go of Andy and left the shower. 

Andy followed him a while later and Nate looked at her closely. 

"Andy, what's wrong? Tell me what it is already?" he asked in a stern voice and Andy winced. Nate noticed and looked at Andy questioningly. 

"God Nate, it's been an exhausting evening, please I can't take any more. Just let me go to bed and sleep." Andy asked softly and Nate looked at her in frustration. 

"Damn it Andy, all I wanted to do was hug you, kiss you and help you shower. Is that so fucking bad that I wanted to do that?" asked Nate upset and stepped up to Andy who avoided him and took a few steps away from him. 

"Do you even love me anymore?" asked Nate doubtfully and Andy looked at him with her wide eyes confused. 

"Nate..." she said softly and her headache increased. 

"What Andy, you can't even answer me this simple question?" 

"Nate, I'm tired. Can we talk about this tomorrow or this weekend? The girls are at their dad's, so I have a free weekend." Andy said quietly, but Nate shook his head. 

"I want to talk to you now, we don't have time tomorrow and who knows what will be going on again this weekend. Andy we haven't been out together in ages and met Lily and Doug. Something always came up. So no, you can't put this off until the weekend. I want to talk to you right now, right here," Nate said firmly. 

Andy rolled her eyes in frustration and groaned loudly. 

"Nate understand, I can't, I've had a rough night and I'm already through the wringer. I can't take any more today. Please let me sleep already." Andy asked desperately and Nate looked at them dejectedly and slumped his shoulders. 

"Okay, fine." he said, quickly putting on his boxers, shirt, sweater, jeans and shoes. "I'm going out. Get a good night's sleep." was all he said, and then he left the bedroom and shortly after that the apartment. 

Andy sat down on the bed, completely drained, and began to cry. She knew she had hurt Nate and was still hurting him with her behavior. But she just couldn't take any more at the moment or tell him what was going on. She didn't know herself if she still loved him. At the moment she only knew that she couldn't stand him near her and also not his reproaches, his looks or his questions. 

It was just all too much for her at the moment.

************************************

While Andy was desperately trying to find some sleep, which she couldn't find tonight, two little girls were also sleepless. Quietly the twins snuck into their mom's bedroom and gently woke her up.

"Bobbseys what are you doing here?" asked Miranda after she was blithely enough and looked at her alarm clock the late hour. 

"Andy told us that you questioned her because we felt bad. She said it would be good if we talked to you about what made us feel bad. We couldn't sleep, that's why we wanted to talk to you now." Caroline explained and Miranda looked at her and then Cassidy questioningly. 

"Okay, out with it then." demanded Miranda in a gentle tone as she let her daughters crawl under her covers and the two girls snuggled up to her. 

"We heard you and Stephen arguing." Cassidy whispered, and Miranda held her breath. 

"We were mad at all the things he said to you. And we were mad at you for letting him say that. We were also mad at you because he was right about some things. We were so angry and didn't like you two anymore." Caroline continued to explain. 

"Andy helped us, we love her, you can't fire her just because she can't always tell you everything. She can't tell you everything because she promised us. She's there for us when you can't. Please don't mess this up. We need Andy." Cassidy said softly and Caroline nodded her head. 

"We don't want to lose her." she said. 

Miranda stayed silent for quite a while, not knowing what to say. Her daughters had overheard the arguments. That was already pretty bad. But now she was afraid of losing the one person who had obviously taken very good care of them all the time, while she herself had worked too much and often, really very often, had come home very late. 

"Andy says you come home so late because maybe you want to avoid the fights too, but that makes Stephen even angrier and he fights even more. Andy says it's a vicious cycle that you have to break, that you go down a different path. Please mom, we hate it when you and Stephen fight and we want you home more than we have the last few weeks. Please go a different way. We love you, but we don't want any more fights." Caroline said firmly and tears ran down Miranda's cheeks, not caring. 

She pulled her two girls into her arms and hugged them tightly as she promised them to do better from now on and work on the problems Stephen and she were having. 

The girls gently wiped the tears from Miranda's cheeks and kissed her happily on the cheek. 

"Thanks Mom." she said at the same time and Miranda promised herself in that moment that she would really do everything to make her two girls happy again and never make them feel bad again.


	10. Chapter 10

"Andy, Andy, there you are at last. Oh my god you look like shit, are you okay?" asked Caroline as soon as Andy entered the townhouse the next morning. 

Andy ignored Caroline's comment about her appearance and looked at her questioningly. 

"What are you doing up already?" she asked instead. 

"We told Mom everything last night and she promised to make things better from now on. And she wants to start right away today. We're going on vacation for a few days and you're coming with us!" Cassidy exclaimed excitedly and Andy looked at the two girls confused. 

"Andrea, there you are. I see the girls have already told you about our short trip. I'm going to sign the girls out of school today. Please go upstairs and pack some things for yourself and then check what the girls packed. We are leaving in an hour." said Miranda and was going up the stairs. 

"Miranda I can't come with you, I have..." 

"What do you mean you can't come? Andrea don't be ridiculous. Of course you're coming." replied Miranda quickly, looking firmly at Andy. 

"No, no, I can't. Nate and I, we were going to talk this weekend and go out too, We hadn't spent time together in a while. I promised him I would. I can't come with you." replied Andy in exasperation. 

"Nonsense, you're coming with us on a short vacation. And from the looks of you this morning, you need a few days rest too. We'll be back in town Sunday night, you can still talk to your friend then. The girls want you there and they need you too. So go upstairs and pack your things." Miranda demanded and climbed the stairs without looking back at Andy again.

Andy stood at the bottom of the stairs looking after her with wide eyes. Damn, Nate would think this sucked, and he'd be right about that. But how should or could she say *no* to Miranda? She had no idea. It was easiest to let Miranda have her way. 

"Andy come on, Mom wants to leave at 8:00 sharp. We have to hurry." Caroline pushed Andy up the stairs while Cassidy went up ahead of them. 

"What about Stephen?" asked Andy quietly after he had come back to her mind. 

"He's not coming, Mom says he has some things to do here in town." explained Caroline, grinning jauntily at Andy. 

"Oh, good." Andy was really glad that at least Stephen wasn't coming. So this short trip wouldn't be quite so bad. 

An hour later, they were in the car. Miranda was driving, Andy was sitting next to her, and the twins were in the back seats. While Miranda steered the car out of town, the twins had nodded off again in the back, as had Andy in the passenger seat. Occasionally Miranda would look over at her and wonder if she had really done the right thing. After all, she had more or less forced Andrea to come with them. She hadn't even listened closely when Andrea had objected and mumbled something about her boyfriend.

As soon as Miranda had steered the car into the driveway to their beach house in the Hamptons, she quietly woke the twins and told them to bring their bags to the beach house. Then she turned to the sleeping Andy. 

"Andrea?" she asked softly and gently, stroking Andy's cheek lightly. Andy's eyes fluttered open after a moment and she looked around the car, startled and disoriented. 

"I..., okay... oh... what?" she asked completely beside herself, sitting up straight and looking at Miranda in confusion. Miranda smiled warmly at her, something she usually did only with her daughters. But Andy seemed to need it now.

"Shht... all good, we arrived and I only woke you up because I didn't want you to sleep in the car, it's too warm for that." explained Miranda calmly. 

Andy looked at her confused for a long moment and Miranda could tell exactly when Andy was truly awake enough to be acutely aware of their surroundings. Somehow, Miranda found that adorable. Oh dear...she quickly shooed that misplaced thought out of her mind and refocused on what she wanted to say to Andrea before they went to the beach house. 

"You're welcome to continue sleeping at the beach house if you need to. And before we go in, I also wanted to tell you that I will be taking care of the girls all weekend. That means for you, you don't have to take care of anything, and you're not here as a nanny, but as a friend of the family. You are welcome to join our company, but you don't have to. It's completely up to you." said Miranda and Andy looked at her with her big brown eyes irritated. 

"Why?" she asked softly and Miranda gave her a gentle smile. 

"Because you've done so much for my girls and because you were there for them during a very difficult time. It's a little thank you to you. Please enjoy the weekend, rest and do whatever pleases you. And if you feel like company, we'd love for you to join us, but as a friend, not a nanny." Miranda replied, stroking Andy's cheek gently once again. Andy immediately blushed, so she quickly lowered her head. 

Since Miranda knew how valuable Andrea was to her twins and how much she had tried to make her daughters feel better, Andrea had gained her full respect and appreciation. She held Andrea in high regard for her kindness, helpfulness and dedication. Therefore, it was not difficult to be kind and caring to her and to show it even where she was usually not so soft and mild, with other people around her. 

"Good?" asked Miranda uncertainly when Andy had said nothing and lowered her head. Andy nodded her head, a bit overwhelmed by Miranda's nice gesture. 

"Good, then let's go to the beach house. Come on." 

Miranda got out of the trunk, the rest of the bags and suitcases. And as soon as Andy stumbled out of the car more than got out, she rushed to her and helped carry them. 

"What took you so long?" the girls immediately asked curiously when both women finally entered the beach house. 

"I was just telling Andrea that she doesn't have to worry about you tormentors this weekend and that she can rest and do whatever she wants. So if you two need or want anything, come see me. I'm totally here for you this weekend." explained Miranda and the twins looked at her with their big blue eyes. 

"Really mom?" they asked simultaneously and Miranda nodded her head. 

"Yes, this weekend I will be there for the two of you all the time. Andrea is welcome to join us though, but only as a friend, not as a nanny. So promise me you won't bug her about anything. Can I count on that?" 

Both girls nodded their heads eagerly and looked very excited, given the fact that they had their mom with them this weekend to take care of them and everything else. That hadn't happened in a long time. 

"Well, please show Andrea to her room, I was thinking of the guest room way up under the roof. She can rest much better there and be undisturbed."

"Thank you Miranda." said Andy softly and Miranda gave her another smile. The girls looked at their mom in surprise, knowing that their mom didn't often smile at other people. At least not anyone on the staff or her co-workers at Runway. 

Both girls immediately pulled Andy to the stairs leading upstairs.

******************************

While Miranda and the girls spent the day together on the beach, Andy had opted to go back to bed and sleep some more. She was more exhausted than she realized after all. After getting enough sleep, she had made herself a little snack downstairs in the kitchen and then had left to go for a walk on the beach.

Once she had found a nice corner of the beach with few walkers, she had sat down in the sand and let her eyes wander over the sea, the fine sand trickling through her fingers, and started thinking about her relationship. Most of all, she thought about how much, or even if, she still loved Nate. And even after hours of thinking, she wasn't clearly sure about her feelings for Nate. 

Nate was certainly very upset with her, both for spending the weekend with Miranda and the twins and for not being able to tell him yesterday if she still loved him. Andy knew that she had hurt Nate very much with that. And that it wouldn't be so easy to make it up to him. 

But did she want to make it up to him? Did she have enough strength at the moment to fight for their relationship? Or did she even love him enough to want or be able to muster the strength to fight? 

After Andy's thoughts went round and round, she decided to go back to the beach house. But since she had walked quite long and very far before, the way back was of course just as long and so far. Therefore, she arrived there only when it was already getting dark and the sun had almost set.

Andy would have liked to kick herself in the ass, because she had been on the road for so long and had not told anyone. Surely now she would have drawn Miranda's ire for being so unreasonable and not even leaving a note on the kitchen table. 

Andy hurriedly walked up the steps to the beach house. She really hoped Miranda wasn't too angry with her. 

"Andrea." A soft voice called out and Andy stopped at the top of the stairs. Miranda was lying on a sun lounger and had a joint in her hand, which she brought straight to her lips and took a light pull on.

Andy looked at her in surprise and Miranda blithely winked at her. 

"Come on, keep me company." Miranda asked and Andy sat down next to her on the second sun lounger. Miranda held out her hand with the joint to Andy and Andy looked at her with wide eyes, but then shook her head. 

"I don't think it's a good idea to smoke pot with my boss." replied Andy reasonably and Miranda giggled.

"Hm... when you look at it that way, you're probably right." she replied, then thought for a moment. 

"I guess it's not even good if my nanny sees me smoking pot. Do you?" she asked with a wink, and Andy grinned broadly at her. 

"I didn't know you smoked pot. I last smoked pot when I was 16 and my parents grounded me for weeks." Andy confessed, and then took the joint Miranda handed her, brought it to her mouth and took a light drag, holding the smoke in her mouth for a long moment before letting it out slowly. 

"So, I guess now we're both co-conspirators, right?" said Miranda blithely, and Andy agreed with her. 

"With me, it's just therapeutic smoking. My therapist said it would pull the stick out of my ass." continued Miranda, giggling once again. 

"You're going to a therapist?"

"Not by choice, but the board used the recent layoffs I've taken in the last 2 months as an excuse to make me go. They felt I had an anger and aggression problem, that I was too impatient and demanding of my co-workers." Miranda snorted contemptuously. 

"With so much incompetence, it's a wonder I haven't fired more people. Well, anyway, they said either I go to therapy and get my problems under control or I get someone put on my side who can then override my decisions at any time. And if that doesn't work, they even threatened to take Runway away from me." said Miranda in anguish as she thought back to the ultimatum. 

"And of all the options, therapy was still the least evil." 

"I see... and how's that going?" asked Andy curiously, clearly brave by the feeling of the joint starting to affect her and already feeling a little lighter and more carefree. 

"Oh, just fine." replied Miranda sarcastically, rolling her eyes. 

Andy began to giggle and Miranda joined in. 

"Hmm... it seems the stick is out of your ass too." Miranda remarked and giggled again. "I like it." 

"What?" asked Andy after she stopped giggling for a moment and looked at Miranda with her big brown eyes. 

"Don't get me wrong, you're doing a good job as a nanny, very good in fact. But you're always so insecure around me, so nervous and fidgety. It's a little exhausting. It irritates me to no end, especially because at home I'm not even the bitch or ice queen I need to be as Runway's editor-in-chief for the magazine to be successful," Miranda explained, taking another drag on her joint and then handing it to Andy. 

Andy took the joint and took another pull as well before handing it back to Miranda. 

"It's not you. It's myself that's driving me crazy. I just want everything to be perfect and for things to go the way I planned and thought it out. But as soon as you ask me to come over or pay attention to me, where you rarely if ever do, I always think I've done something wrong and get scared of losing my job." Andy explained and Miranda looked at her silently this time. 

"Hm..., I guess I should pay attention to you more often then, so you don't get rattled the next time I call you into my study. Right?" asked Miranda, blithely winking at Andy. 

Andy began to giggle again. 

"What?" asked Mirada, confused. 

"I'm just picturing you paying more attention to me. Kind of like, we're sitting in your study, drinking tea together while we do each other's hair and tell each other our secrets." replied Andy, starting to laugh out loud at the image that was building up in her head. 

Miranda started laughing as well. 

"We should get my therapist to do it so she can see how soft and sweet I am." replied Miranda while still laughing and stubbing out the joint on the patio floor and then flicking it into the hedge. 

"Mom, Andy, what are you doing here?" asked a moment later the twins who had been lured in by the loud laughter.

"Oops... I think we're in trouble now." declared Miranda, hiding her face behind her hands and continuing to laugh. 

Andy, who had only taken two drags on the joint and was consequently more herself than Miranda, looked at the girls with a wide grin. 

"Your mom and I were just trying out a therapeutic stuff that made us pretty funny. We're fine, don't worry. Come here." asked Andy, pulling the twins to him and the twins cuddled up to their right and left on the sun lounger. 

"What time is dinner?" asked Caroline and Miranda suddenly stopped laughing and looked at her girls questioningly, quickly considering her options. 

"How about pizza?" she asked, and the girls jumped up enthusiastically and hugged their mom stormy. 

"Yes!" they both exclaimed delightedly and Miranda and Andy started giggling again. 

"Okay, okay, I'll look up the number for the pizza place and then we'll order together." Andy pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket and turned it back on. As soon as the phone was turned on, it immediately showed her missed calls and messages. Andy groaned loudly and Miranda and the girls looked at her curiously. 

"What is it?" asked the twins and Andy shook her head. 

"Not important." she replied and deleted the messages and call ads and then googled for the nearest pizza place. 

After the pizzas were finished, the girls retreated to the living room and hogged the TV, picking out a movie to watch. 

Meanwhile, Miranda cleaned up the kitchen and Andy sat at the kitchen island with a cup of tea, holding her cell phone in her hand. She was feverishly wondering if it was a good idea to call Nate back or if she would be better off waiting until Sunday night when they would be back in town. 

"Okay, so it's probably none of my business, but what is this about?" asked Miranda quietly, pulling Andy out of her thoughts. Andy looked at her, blinking. 

"My boyfriend, he had called several times and left messages." Andy confessed and Miranda looked at her thoughtfully. 

"Hm..., what about your boyfriend?" 

"He..., well..., we... were going to take some time this weekend to talk about us and our relationship. I don't think he was too thrilled that I sent him a message telling him I was traveling with you guys." 

"So he's mad at you?" 

"Yeah, I guess." 

"It seems like we're both in relationships with men who are obviously making our lives harder than they already are." Miranda replied, sitting down next to Andy at the kitchen island and gently placing her hand on Andy's hand, which was still holding the cell phone. 

Andy looked down at Miranda's warm, soft hand and she didn't quite know how or why, but Miranda's hand on her hand was quite soothing and left a pleasant tingle throughout her body. Therefore, she smiled a wide smile at Miranda as she looked at her. 

"Yes, it seems so." she said, and then sighed deeply. 

"And are you going to call him or can we go over and join the girls and watch the movie?" 

"I'm not really looking to face his anger right now, and I honestly don't want another fight. I think I'll face it on Sunday night when we get back." 

"Very good." rejoiced Miranda, smiling happily at Andy and giving Andy's hand another gentle squeeze before grabbing it properly and pulling Andy down from her stool and dragging her with her to join the twins in the living room. 

Both women made themselves comfortable on the sofa, Andy in one corner and Miranda in the opposite corner, while the girls made themselves comfortable on the floor with some pillows and blankets. 

Miranda really didn't get much of the movie, as she was much more secretly watching Andy as she watched the movie. Occasionally Andy would look over at her and Miranda would quickly drop her gaze back to the movie each time. However, a few times the two women's eyes met and both Miranda and Andy would then grin at each other. Miranda blamed her behavior on the after-effects of the joint. She still felt pretty breezy, cheerful, and chipper. And there was something else that irritated her a little. Earlier when she had put her hand on Andrea's hand, she had enjoyed this physical contact very much. Normally she avoided physical contact wherever possible. Except with her daughters. But touching Andrea felt good and also very natural. And laughing and giggling with her on the terrace earlier had also been very nice. 

Perhaps it really was the case that once the stick was out of the ass, that the girl and herself felt comfortable enough in each other's company. Interesting...

After the movie finally ended and Miranda put the girls to bed, Miranda came back into the living room to find Andy curled up on the sofa asleep. Miranda joined her at the sofa and stroked Andy's shoulders with her hand.

"Andrea, wake up!"

Andy's eyes fluttered open lazily and Miranda gently stroked her cheek. 

"Time for you to go to bed." said Miranda softly and Andy looked at her with sleepy eyes. 

After getting up from the sofa, she stepped close to Miranda on an impulse and gave her a peck on the cheek. 

"Thank you Miranda for taking me on vacation with you. It was a very nice evening." Andy stated quietly, still standing very close to Miranda. 

"Go to sleep Andrea." she said again gently but firmly and Andy grinned broadly at her. 

"Good night Miranda." she replied happily and then hurried out of the living rooms. 

Miranda watched after her as she placed her fingers over the spot where Andrea had just kissed her. It had been surprising, but also beautiful. Somehow she had warmed up very quickly and her heart had started beating fast at this brief physical contact.


	11. Chapter 11

As soon as Andy lay in her bed, she felt anything but tired. Her thoughts kept returning to the good night kiss she had breathed on Miranda's soft and silky skin. Miranda smelled so incredibly good. Andy would have loved to run her hands through Miranda's silvery hair and pull her head toward her to place her lip on Miranda's lips and kiss her completely senseless. 

The idea of it made her insanely aroused, so she slipped her left hand under her sleep shirt and placed it on her right breast, massaging it gently and imagining it was Miranda's hand touching her so tenderly and playing with her nipples that had grown hard. 

Andy's right hand slid gently down her belly and slipped under her boyshorts that she had put on to sleep. With her fingers she stroked through her labia, which were now quite wet, and dipped into their moisture. With her middle finger she began to stroke, rub and caress around her clit while her left hand was now kneading her breasts ungently and in her imagination Miranda was doing all this to her. 

Andy then entered her hot, already pulsating pussy with two fingers and began to fuck herself at a slow pace at first. But then got faster and faster as her blood began to rush, her breath ragged and her heart pounding wildly. Before pushing herself over the edge, she covered her mouth with her left hand to hide her loud moans, which burst out of her as her orgasm overwhelmed her and left her powerless. 

As soon as she recovered, she took her hand out of her boyshorts and licked her wet fingers. She had discovered quite a while ago that she tasted good, so she saw no reason not to distract her wet fingers. Even Nate loved to pleasure her orally and lick her until her orgasm overwhelmed her. 

Oh wow, this was so bad. She had been thinking of Miranda the whole time, lying between her thighs and licking her, tasting her, nibbling her clit with her teeth while her fingers invaded Andy's body and fucked her and her body writhed and tensed and went on fire under Miranda's ministrations. 

This was absolutely, really, really bad. It should have been Nate she was thinking about when she did this. Not Miranda. Damn it!!! Miranda was her boss! She was married, had two kids, and she was so damn beautiful, intelligent, and aloof. How in the world could Andy fantasize about Miranda there? 

Andy buried her face in her pillow and groaned out loud in frustration. Fuck, fuck, fuck!!! This was so bad. 

Before she fell asleep, her last thought was Miranda. Miranda with the soft skin, with the outrageously seductive scent, with the teasing giggles as they smoked a joint together. Miranda who had gently woken her and told her to go to bed. Miranda, Miranda, Miranda...

Andy got lost in her dreams about Miranda that night. 

So it was hardly surprising to Andy that her first thought the next morning was Miranda. 

Quickly Andy slipped out of her bed and hurriedly went into the shower to take a cold shower and   
wash off the fantasies about and with and of Miranda with very, very, very cold water. 

When she came into the kitchen half an hour later, the twins were already sitting at the kitchen table. Both had their cell phones in front of them and were busily typing sms. Andy walked over to them and kissed both girls on the head and wished them a good morning. 

"Good morning Andy!" The two exclaimed enthusiastically, looking at her brightly. 

"Are you guys hungry yet?" asked Andy and both girls grinned at her. 

"Yeah, but Mom said she wanted to make breakfast for us. And if you come down before her, we're to tell you not to lift a finger at all." the twins said conspiratorially, grinning at Andy. 

"Okay, fine." said Andy and sat down at the table with the girls and picked up the morning paper and started reading. 

A moment later Miranda entered the kitchen. 

Andy lifted her head from the newspaper and looked admiringly at Miranda, who was really very beautiful to look at today, with her chic short-sleeved red blouse and her cream-colored pencil skirt. Andy had no idea which designer Miranda's clothes came from, but she could well imagine that they were very expensive things. 

"Cassidy go get the ingredients from the fridge and Caroline we need the frying pan." Miranda ordered and her daughters hurriedly put their cell phones aside and did what their mom asked them to do. 

Meanwhile, Miranda walked up to Andy, put her hand on Andy's left shoulder and to Andy's horror, Miranda leaned down to her and breathed a soft kiss on her left cheek. 

"Good morning Andrea." she whispered softly in Andy's ear and then straightened back up. 

Andy stiffened for a brief moment and looked at her with wide confused eyes, but Miranda just smiled mischievously at her. 

"Oh, is the cane back?" she asked with a wink, and the girls looked questioningly at their mom while Andy slowly shook her head. 

"Very well." replied Miranda, turning to breakfast preparations. 

"Mom, which stick do you mean?" asked Caroline curiously and Miranda began to giggle. 

"Oh Bobbsey, that's just an inside joke between Andrea and I." explained Miranda as Andy blushed. 

After she recovered, Andy got up from the table and joined Miranda at the stove. 

"Can I help you with anything?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable leaving Miranda to do everything on her own. 

"Yes, be a dear and put some coffee on already. There are several coffee blends in the cupboard upstairs that are very tasty." Miranda asked, smiling gently at Andy. She then turned back to the mixing bowl where she put the ingredients for the blueberry pancakes. 

While Andy put on the coffee and Miranda prepared the blueberry pancakes, the twins set the breakfast table. 

Breakfast, like dinner the previous night, was very entertaining and Miranda was pleased that Andrea was relaxed enough to join the twins in their chatter. Last night Miranda had thought that maybe it was the joint that made Andrea so relaxed, but today she wasn't stoned, so seemed really comfortable in their company. 

"What do you want to do today?" interrupted Miranda, the lively conversation about some teen star she didn't really know that well, but whom her twins seemed to have been admiring lately. So Miranda would be hearing more about this teen heartthrob in the near future. Inwardly she sighed already with these thoughts. 

"Miniature golf!" the two called out at the same time, and Andy chuckled as Miranda playfully turned her eyes to the imaginary sky and then sighed deeply. 

"Okay, so it's country club for lunch today and then a round of miniature golf. What else?" asked Miranda curiously. 

"We haven't had a barbecue in a while. Oh, let's do that tonight. Please mom." asked Caroline and Cassidy quickly agrees. Both girls looked at their mom with a puppy dog look and blinked their eyes sweetly. Miranda rolled her eyes again playfully and then grumpily agreed. 

Andy chuckled as the twins had their way of getting Miranda exactly where they wanted her. And she wasn't surprised that Miranda gave in to them so often, where the twins really knew how to use their charm. 

"Well, if we're going to barbecue tonight, we need to go shopping first. Andrea will you join us?" asked Miranda curiously and Andy looked at her thoughtfully. 

"Um...I'd like to stay here, if that's okay?" asked Andy uncertainly, but received a warm smile from Miranda. 

"Of course it's okay." she said and Andy smiled gratefully. 

"Mom, can I stay with Andy?" asked Caroline. 

"Bobbsey, you'll have to ask Andrea." was all Miranda said, already starting to clear the breakfast table. 

"Andy?" asked Caroline sweetly, giving her the exact same puppy dog look she had used on her mom earlier.

"Sure." replied Andy, helping Miranda clear the table and making herself useful. "What do you want to do?" she asked a moment later. 

"How about go swimming?" asked Caroline excitedly, while Cassidy secretly wondered if she too would rather stay with Andy and Caroline instead of going shopping with her mom. But no, having her mom all to herself would probably be way cooler than hanging out with Andy and her twin sister, Cassidy decided. 

"Um..." Andy looked regretfully at Caroline. "I didn't pack any swimsuits at all." 

Miranda's eyes began to sparkle at that moment. 

"No problem, I figured you probably didn't think of bathing suits. And so I made a small selection for you. I was going to give it to you later, but I can give to you right now." explained Miranda as she took the plates from Andy and put them in the dishwasher.

"Oh, really?" asked Andy in surprise, and Miranda winked at her. 

"Yes. Bobbseys please continue to put away the dishwasher while I give Andrea her bath things." demanded Miranda, then took Andy's hand in hers and was already gently pulling her out of the kitchen without looking to see if the twins complied with her demand. 

On the way upstairs to their bedroom, however, Miranda let go of Andy's hand when she realized what she had just done. Miranda was not a tactile woman, but something about Andrea tempted her to want to touch her. And this idea was more than bad, in fact it was very, very, very bad. After all, she was a married woman, had two daughters, and Andrea was her nanny and also half her age. So, she chastened herself, she had to stop feeling good about wanting to be so close to the girl and forget the pleasant feeling that spread through her body as soon as she held Andrea's hand in hers. 

"Miranda, can I ask you something?" asked Andy uncertainly, as soon as they arrived in Miranda's bedroom and Miranda was looking in her closet for the bathing suits. 

"Yeah, sure." said Miranda as she came back out with a package from the walk-in closet and placed it on her bed, opening it carefully. 

"It was a spontaneous short vacation after all, how did you know I needed bathing suits?" asked Andy, looking at Miranda curiously. 

Miranda looked up at Andy and smiled cheerfully at her. 

"Well right now there are the latest swimwear for the coming summer everywhere. And when I saw these models, I thought they would look very good on you. And besides, summer is coming soon and summer vacation is coming up. The girls are going to spend two weeks with their father in Greece and they asked if you would accompany them. My ex-husband has heard so much about you from the twins that he will approve if you join them. Of course you have the choice to refuse. And then the girls are also on vacation with me for a week, we wanted to come here. So you see it's not a witchcraft that I already thought of bathing suits for you. I didn't know exactly what beach type you are, so for now I chose three different styles, a swimsuit, a bikini and a tankini. Of course, that's not all, tell me what you want and I'll get it for you." explained Miranda beaming, but Andy frowned at her, whereupon Miranda's beaming smile also faded. 

"What's wrong?" asked Miranda immediately, concerned, and Andy looked away from her, embarrassed. 

When Andy didn't answer, Miranda approached Andy and put her hand on her shoulder, turning the girl around to face her. 

"Andrea, tell me!" she demanded, but not sternly, still with a concerned tone. 

"I don't quite understand why you give me so many clothes, accessories, handbags, shoes, underwear and now swimwear? I'm just the nanny!" retorted Andy and Miranda looked at her closely with a raised eyebrow. 

"No, no, you're not just the nanny. You're a beautiful young woman and it gives me pleasure to give you all the nice clothes because I know they'll look wonderful on you. Did I overdo it too much?" asked Miranda a little desperately and in a low voice. 

Andy looked at her closely and seeing how dejected Miranda was just standing in front of her, she just couldn't say "yes". 

"I'm unsure, I mean I was just wondering why you were doing all this. Cara said in the beginning that I should just enjoy it and not question it. If you enjoy dressing me and giving me nice things, how could I refuse?" asked Andy uncertainly and Miranda looked at her thoughtfully. 

"So I did overdo it." she said softly, sinking down on the bed. 

"A little." Andy admitted and sat down next to Miranda on the bed and, to Miranda's surprise, took her hand in hers and gently stroked it, squeezing it lightly. 

"The closet in my room at the townhouse is already bursting at the seams and the dresser is also very well filled. Many of the things are really beautiful and they all look so precious that sometimes I don't dare put them on for fear of accidentally getting them dirty or wrinkled while working. But I am really very grateful to you for giving me all this. Even though I don't really understand why you do it, except that as your nanny I'm not supposed to be the last stray. Thank you Miranda." Andy said and leaned over to Miranda and breathed a little kiss on her cheek and quickly pulled away. 

Miranda immediately blushed and swallowed twice before turning her face to Andy and giving her a glowing look. 

"So... which one do you like?" asked Miranda, getting back on topic and showing Andrea the swimsuits. 

"Actually, I bathe in the nude." replied Andy blithely and Miranda's jaw dropped open in surprise and she stared at Andy. 

A big grin immediately spread across Andy's face and she began to giggle. 

Miranda poked her in the side and Andy gave a short squeak. 

"Very funny Missy and you almost had me there." snorted Miranda and Andy continued to grin widely at her. 

"I think I wish the stick was back in your ass." muttered Miranda and Andy started giggling again. 

"Oh stop it. Now tell me what you like about these bathing suits so I can get more." Miranda asked and winked at Andy. Andy immediately stopped giggling and looked at Miranda with concern. 

"Hmm... actually I wear swim shorts and a shirt, at most a bikini top underneath, but never less." explained Andy, so she took the tankini in her hand and looked at the two pieces carefully. Wearing the tankini would undoubtedly show a lot more of her skin than she was comfortable with, so she sighed deeply and put both pieces back. 

Miranda furrowed her brow and looked at Andy thoughtfully. 

"So you don't like any of this?" asked Miranda disappointedly. 

"The swimsuits are really nice, but I don't see myself in them. I..., I... hmm... I would feel uncomfortable in them, they just show too much skin. I rather like bathing in my own swimsuits. May I?" asked Andy and Miranda sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. 

"Okay, but you don't have them with you." She indicated and Andy shrugged her shoulders. 

"I packed boy shorts and I brought some shirts, that will do." replied Andy carefree.

"Alright, but when you go down to the beach, please remember to put sunscreen on Caroline completely, every 30 min!!!! With her fair skin, she gets sunburned quickly. And I also want you to put on all your sunscreen, let Caroline help you with that." explained Miranda, striding into her bathroom and getting the sunscreen she had stashed there in her cosmetic bag. 

"Yes, Miranda." said Andy dutifully, taking the sunscreen. 

"Good. I was thinking that I should spend a little longer shopping with Cassidy so we can both spend some time alone for once. But you can always call me if you need anything." Miranda explained and Andy smiled gently at her. 

"Cassidy will definitely really like being able to spend some time just with you alone. It might be nice if you could set it up with Caroline, too," Andy mentioned, but immediately kept her mouth shut when she realized she had just told her boss what she thought would be good.

However, Miranda was not at all upset with her, but smiled warmly at her. 

"A very good idea. I'll try, when we get back home, to rearrange my schedule so that I can spend time with both girls, but also alone with each of them."


End file.
